Executive Window Cleaner

Matthew cleans up through window of opportunity: Inspired by Dragons’ Den judge Duncan Bannatyne, Matthew Helliwell has a clear vision when it comes to business. For the 26-year-old from Muir of Ord has his own window cleaning company that he set up seven years ago. And like the entrepreneur from the popular television show, he had the drive to do it by himself. “Duncan Bannatyne gives me my inspiration – he started with nothing, lost everything and bounced back all on his own,” says Matthew.

After leaving school at 16, Matthew had around 20 jobs before a close family friend lent him a set of ladders and the use of a car to start his company. And now Matthew uses the latest window cleaning equipment and has even turned “green” by collecting rainwater for his washes. “From the age of 12, I used to help out at a local farm in the summer holidays and at weekends,” says the former Dingwall Academy pupil. “I loved the outdoors and working with animals and couldn’t get enough of it. As soon as I sat my standard grade exams when I was 16 I just wanted to leave and get out there and start working.”



In the couple of years after school, there were stints as a night porter at the Ramada Jarvis hotel and as a stockroom assistant at the Body Shop in Inverness, as well as a parcel delivery driver, kitchen fitter and a green keeper. But Matthew couldn’t settle into anything except as a car delivery driver for Europcar and Focus vehicle rental companies. But then his ex-girlfriend’s father, Doug Stewart from Marybank, who he looks upon as a second dad, heard that a local window cleaner was “thinning out” some of his customers.

“Doug thought I should take on a few and try window cleaning as it was an outside job and I would be my own boss, which he knew I would enjoy,” says Matthew. “I didn’t have a penny to my name at this point so Doug lent me a set of ladders and let me borrow his car and off I went whilst still working part-time with Europcar.” By 2006 Matthew had enough customers to be able to give up the car hire work and go full-time as a window cleaner, carrying his ladders on the car roof, buckets of water in the boot and shammies on the back seat.



That same year he heard about a system which uses 100 per cent purified water to clean glass and has telescopic poles up to 60ft, eliminating the need for ladders. “The poles are made from carbon fibre which means they are extremely light and one man can easily lift and operate a 60ft pole on his own,” says Matthew. “I decided to buy a water pump and filtration system and a cheap pole and brush, and practised on my own house and family’s windows then converted all my customers to this new way of cleaning.” He then gradually built up his stock of equipment and tools and can now carry 650 litres of purified water, two 100m hose reels, four poles of various lengths, plus spare parts.



In 2009, he purchased a hot water boiler for his system which results in superior cleaning all round. “This makes the job a lot easier,” he points out. “Just imagine cleaning your dishes with cold water. How hard would that be?” The hot water system also makes it much easier for him to work in the cold months. “While many cold-water window cleaners would have frozen pipes and hoses in their vans and wouldn’t be able to turn up to a job, I’m able to work away with no problems,” says Matthew.

And because he was using thousands of litres of water each week, Matthew wondered if there was a way of reducing consumption. “There wasn’t really as I still had to use that amount of water for my jobs but I realised I could become more eco friendly and collect rainwater,” he says. “So I set up two 5,000 litre tanks which collect rainwater from the roof of my friend’s farm steading. I’ve never had to fill my tank in the van with tap water since as there’s always enough rainwater stored in the tanks, even in the middle of summer.”

Matthew also recently bought a new Peugeot van, which he’s had signwritten with his company name Clear Vision, to transport all the equipment and water. He has both domestic and commercial clients from Ullapool to Fochabers, although he mainly works around the Muir of Ord and Dingwall areas. And as well as interior and exterior window cleaning, he can also undertake builders’ cleans, UPVC cleaning, conservatory roof cleaning, and pressure wash driveways and patios. Most of his jobs are from personal recommendations and he enjoys taking time to have a blether with his clients. “I have some fantastic customers on my round who really look after me,” he says. “Many will invite me in for a cuppa or even a plate of soup at lunchtime.”

Matthew’s typical day starts at his water collection point at 8am where he fills up and turns on the water heater before he heads off to his first job around an hour later. “I never like to call at a domestic job before 9am, just to respect the client’s privacy really,” he says. “Usually I’ll work until 5pm or even later in the summer months. At the end of each day there are always my books to update and I plan for the next day.” In the future Matthew hopes to expand further into commercial window cleaning, aspiring to one day become a national contractor. “I love being my own boss,” he says. “It can be quite stressful at times arranging everything from insurance to day-to-day job planning but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.”