Merry Maids boss has something to smile about as Inverness entrepreneur wins national industry award
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City cleaning company boss Bill Grant wiped the floor with his rivals to be named a winner in the Great British Franchisee Awards 2022.
The owner of Merry Maids in Inverness and East Highland began the business from scratch 14 years ago, and now he is regularly top UK performer for Merry Maids, the largest home cleaning franchise network in the world with 100 franchises in the UK alone.
Bill, a former ski instructor, yachtsman and gift shop entrepreneur, grew his business so successfully that he created a separate territory in the second-largest population area in his patch then sold it to a new franchisee as a separate business, Merry Maids of Moray.
Merry Maids brand manager Steve Morris said: “He fully understands the lifecycle of franchise businesses and has been providing support and mentoring to the grateful new owners.
“Bill demonstrates all that is good in franchising. He really values his staff and customers above everything else and is rewarded with great loyalty, low staff and customer turnover and glowing reviews of his personal service, professionalism and attention to detail.
“Covid hit his business hard, but after a prolonged period of closure, he came back fighting and leading from the front, and immediately rose back to his well-deserved position at the top of the Merry Maids league tables.
“He’s continued to grow his business and is even ahead of his pre-Covid performance levels - a truly excellent recovery.”
Bill, who operates from a single base in Inverness, said: “I’m very optimistic about post-pandemic recovery and anticipate cementing our recently confirmed status as the highest-grossing single- licence UK business in the network.”
The Great British Franchisee Awards recognises franchisees’ exceptional performance and business experience, ability to drive business growth, staff retention, customer satisfaction, community involvement, inspired leadership, and franchise involvement. The awards are run by whichfranchise, are supported by Lloyds Bank, BDO, AMO Consulting and Chantry Group.
