Redundancy was the catalyst for a couple to become the latest additions to the Merry Maids professional home cleaning franchise network.

Barry and Rosie Pensome decided to investigate franchise business opportunities after Barry was made redundant from his job as a consultant quantity surveyor last year as a result of the recession.

Barry said: "I was looking into opportunities that suited us locally and had an idea that something like a handy man or gardening franchise might be appropriate. We eventually decided on Merry Maids as there was a good opportunity for us in the area we wanted and, after some research, it seemed like a good proposition that we felt would work for us.

"The thing that stood out for us was that Merry Maids really strives to provide a quality service to its customers. We chose this franchise because Merry Maids operates with the backing of ServiceMaster as a long established franchisor with a wealth of experience and support to back up my business.

"The two-week training academy was a huge benefit as it covered all aspects of running a Merry Maids business. It really was invaluable and has prepared us for the task in hand.

"We are just at the start of our journey but our plans for 2010 are to start up slowly to ensure we can recruit the best staff to provide the Merry Maids quality required. We expect to have at least four teams of two maids operating within the next few months. Longer term we hope to be able to grow to eight teams.

"We want Merry Maids of Sussex East to be the best domestic cleaning service in the area and want our customers to have a quality, reliable cleaning service, tailored to meet their specific needs."

Published: 23 March 2010

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