Personal touch, professional standards

Earn £100,000+ a year without getting your hands dirty

Poppies has been at the forefront of the UK’s quality domestic cleaning industry for over 40 years… but you won’t find anything old-fashioned about the Poppies business model.

Poppies' technology, systems and processes make this a business that’s simple to operate and control. The Poppies bespoke business management system minimises your admin and lets you focus on what’s important: stellar service and stellar growth.

By running a successful home based cleaning business you will be minimising overheads, and only move to an office when your cash flow allows – meaning no further investment is required.

Poppies is Britain’s oldest-established domestic cleaning franchise and has been setting the standards others follow since 1980. Our most successful franchisee, Chris Wootton, now owns and operates the franchise network as the Poppies MD. The result is a culture of rare and genuine passion to help people like you with the oomph and the ambition to build your own financial freedom and security, just as he did.

The Poppies Cleaning Service Franchise Opportunity

The primary role of the franchisee is to build and maintain great relationships with both clients and staff. The ability to get on with people and enjoy providing help to other people’s lives is one of the cores Poppies are looking for in their franchisees. The skills around cleaning they can teach; but the understanding of how to create happy clients is something that is invaluable.

As a Poppies Franchisee, you will employ cleaners your customers can rely on to be honest, efficient and discreet. Poppies will share with you their extensive inside knowledge about recruitment in the industry, which has been built up over many decades. From cleaners to managers and administrative staff, rest assured they will guide you through the very best practices to recruit and retain a dream team who will ensure your franchise flourishes.

_{Note: the above figures are based on 2019 financials for the top 20% of franchisees who have their own management team.}

What you’ll need to be a Poppies franchisee

Buying a franchise is a low-risk way of sharing in the success of a high-profile business, backed all the way by the people who know it best and made it all possible.

We’ll let you into our trade secrets, support you with marketing and operations, and mentor you to become a confident Poppies franchisee.

You don’t need to have owned a business before.

1. A great communicator
2. Business-minded
3. Methodical and motivated
4. Proud and personable
5. Willing to reinvest to grow your business

A business journey, taken together

You can have your own Poppies domestic cleaning business either by setting one up in a new territory or by buying one that’s already established. Either way, Chris and his team will mentor and guide you on following the proven business model.

Poppies prides itself on the personal touch – something our customers have appreciated for decades. As a franchise owner, you’ll employ cleaners your customers can rely on to be honest, efficient and discreet. They won’t raise an eyebrow if the house they’ve cleaned is in uproar the next time they visit, and they’ll even park your liveried van around the corner if the customer wants to claim the credit for all their hard work! Like you, they’ll make it their business to keep clients happy.

What you’ll need to be a Poppies Franchisee

Buying a Poppies franchise is a low-risk way of sharing in the success of an established brand, backed all the way by the people who know it best and made it all possible.

Poppies will let you into their trade secrets, support you with marketing and operations, and mentor you to become a confident Poppies Franchisee.

You don’t need to have owned a business before, but you do need to be:

A great communicator
Driven and determined
Methodical and motivated
Proud and personable

If you’d like to know more about the Poppies Cleaning Service Franchise and…

… are a real people-person

… enjoy providing excellent customer service

… want to build and lead your own team

Find out more

If you’d like to know more about the Poppies franchise and…

… are a real people-person

… enjoy providing excellent customer service

… want to build something of your own, surrounded by experienced people

Please get in touch with us below:

From dust to downtime: achieving a work-life balance as a management franchisee

February 09, 2024

Before purchasing his cleaning franchise from the previous owner in 2021, Dan Reid, Managing Director of Poppies Leeds North West, worked full-time as a national account manager in the drinks industry. He now employs a team of 25 staff, including an operations manager and two supervisors who run the day-to-day operations of the business, meaning Dan can concentrate on the bigger picture. This hands-off approach has also allowed Dan to strike the perfect work-life balance; he is able to spend much more time with his family, making time to go away with them once a month and work remotely from anywhere in the world, along with many other lifestyle benefits.

Here, Dan takes us through how becoming a management franchisee has shaped his day-to-day life to achieve the work-life balance he desired.

Morning

I’m an early riser naturally, so by choice my day usually starts early and finishes early. On a normal day I’m on the laptop by 8am whether in the office or at home. Mornings are usually fairly busy getting staff organised for jobs and dealing with client changes. I tend not to get involved as much anymore now the business is in a good place and leave my wonderful operations manager and supervisors to it… but I do make myself available in case they require any support.

My first priorities tend to be checking over and sending out any invoices, dealing with any escalations or customer queries, reviewing CVs and calling potential candidates to book interviews. In an industry with such high staff turnover, I knew I wanted a real focus on employing the right candidates who would stay with us and find real fulfilment in their work.

Afternoon

Once the busy morning is done, I usually dedicate some time to projects or the bigger picture tasks that will keep driving the business forward. I know my fantastic team have everything else under control, so I’m able to take some time to focus on the more strategic areas of the business.

On days when I work from the office – ideally once or twice a week – I normally schedule appointments back-to-back so my day is planned out and then I can have the other days to focus on my own work. My operations manager does these appointments when I’m not around, but if I’m available, I love to keep my hand in all aspects of the business.

Even though I can run the business fairly remotely, I like to return to the office to make sure the team feel that I’m available when they need me! If I’m ever on longer holidays or away for a longer period, I usually will work a couple of hours a day to keep things pushing forward, but my team work fantastically in my absence.

Evening

99% of cleaning jobs are done by 3pm, so while I often work later than 3pm, I don’t always. It’s fantastic to feel like I have the flexibility to choose my own working hours, and it also means that I can plan the length of my days around exactly what work needs to be done.

In all honesty, in an evening – or late afternoon, depending on the day – I can more often than not be found on a long walk with my two dogs, especially if the weather is good. I didn’t realise how much I valued time with my family and my dogs when I was working full-time in a rigid role, so to be able to fit this into my daily routine is quite possibly, for me, the biggest plus point for being so hands-off.

Dan’s story highlights the key difference between being a management franchisee and an owner-operator franchisee: flexibility. In the last 12 months alone, Dan has managed to get a new puppy, gets out for walks with his two dogs every day and spend time in his Spanish home for a total of 11 weeks of the year. It also allows him the time to work on other interests, which in Dan’s case includes running his own family-run coffee shop. His results speak for themselves: since taking over the business just two years ago, Dan has seen a growth of 80%, thanks to his ability to spend time focusing on the bigger picture rather than small day-to-day management tasks.

As a franchise, Poppies believes in the importance of a healthy work-life balance; in the ability to spend time with those you love, while running a successful, thriving business. Almost all Poppies franchisees run on a management model as opposed to owner-operated, which allows for a hands-off, flexible approach while still driving the same exceptional results and growth.

About the Author

Dan Reid

Dan Reid is the franchise owner for Poppies Leeds North West, having taken over the business in June 2021. With over 16 years of prior experience in the beverage industry, Dan brings a wealth of experience to the day-to-day management of his Poppies franchise, from organisational skills through to managing a workforce, dealing with customers and financials. Dan also owns a coffee shop with his wife in Pontefract, which gave him an invaluable insight into running his own business.