Nationwide Window Cleaning experiences sales growth

A Yorkshire-headquartered firm that cleans the windows of more than 20,000 buildings across the UK has reported a 63 percent growth in sales. Turnover at Nationwide Window Cleaning (NWC) has increased from £7.4m in 2014 to £12.1m in 2016 as a result of large contracts wins, including Santander and The Co-operative Group.

Set up in 2009 by Managing Director Thornton Tasker, NWC provides simple and complex cleaning services for universities, hospitals, large retailers and other commercial businesses such as Royal Bank of Scotland, ASDA and the British Museum. The business continues to experience growth in its abseiling and complex cleaning services division.

NWC received financial backing of £3m from BGF (Business Growth Fund) in July 2014 to scale-up its operations. Since then, the company has purchased a new head office property close to the centre of Leeds, increased the size of its vehicle fleet and further developed its central IT operating platform.

NWC has also increased its workforce by 120 staff over the past two years – bringing the total number of people employed to 285 – and has created its own in-house management development programme which has been completed by 25 people of all levels. At the same time, NWC has taken on and trained 15 apprentices.

Over the next 12 months, the business is considering potential acquisitions and diversification in its specialist cleaning division, targeting further growth of more than 20 percent.

Thornton Tasker, Managing Director of NWC commented: “During the past 18 months, we have made significant investment in our people, technology, premises and fleet. BGF’s funding has helped us to invest faster, meaning we have been able to take on more work, and ultimately accelerate the growth of the business.

“Investing in people who are passionate about providing first-in-class customer service is critical to the long-term success of our business, which is why we have placed so much emphasis on training and upskilling members of the team across all levels of the business.”

Neil Inskip an investor at BGF who sits on the board of NWC said: “Thornton and NWC is a fantastic example of entrepreneurship in Britain. He is ambitious for his team and the business, and this has been demonstrated in his plans for NWC and strong sales growth. As Thornton says, ‘There’s a lot of glass out there’, and we’re confident that the business, under such strong leadership, will continue to thrive.”

NWC has been shortlisted in the 2016 BIFM Award’s Brand Impact category, for its work with Sainsbury’s, and the Learning and Career Development category.