Window Cleaning No Longer A Luxury Purchase

Window cleaning & other domestic help no longer a luxury service, survey finds.

One in four families hire domestic help: For centuries it was the preserve of a very wealthy households – a butler to deliver the morning newspaper and a throng of cooks to prepare a hearty roast for supper. However, a study published today suggests that the age of service is thriving in the modern era, with a new study showing that increasing numbers of ordinary families are turning to their own Jeeves or Mary Poppins for help around the home. In a sign that the Upstairs Downstairs lifestyle is no longer a luxury enjoyed by Britain’s elite, more than one in four households in Britain hire some form of domestic help.

The survey of more than 2,000 people found 28 per cent currently employ help around their home, such as a cleaner, nanny, or gardener, as families look to juggle their working and home lives. While the trend is strongest among households with children, with nearly a third of families making use of such services, singletons too are turning to domestic staff. More than a quarter of those who live alone regularly employ an extra pair of hands, such are the demands of their careers and social lives.

Echoing the survey’s findings, concierge firms north of the Border said there has been a significant increase in demand from working families with average earnings. Commonplace duties, such as cleaning and ironing, are the most routine requests. The companies are also helping with 21st-century dilemmas, like uploading songs to an iPod, or setting up broadband connections.

The survey, commissioned by a home insurance firm, found that among those who currently hire help, around one in six have gardeners and one in eight have house cleaners and two-thirds have window cleaners. On average, people pay out £45.75 a month cash in hand to their domestic helpers, although in stark contrast to the Edwardian era, the clients are not necessarily wealthy – some 40 per cent of people who use domestic help have a household income of £28,000 or less.

One in nine of those polled admit longer working hours limit the spare time they have to maintain their homes, while one in 20 stated a preference for spending free time enjoying themselves rather than doing chores. Mariella MacLeod, the founder of Dickory Dock, a Glasgow-based lifestyle management and concierge service, said she was not surprised by the findings. She explained: “Ten to fifteen years ago, concierge services were for the very wealthy, the multimillionaires, but recently, especially in the last five years, it has become much more affordable. I have a selection of customers and they are not all rich.

“Working people are needing to stay in the office for longer hours nowadays and employers don’t look kindly on them calling a joiner from work. It helps them to have someone to take care of those jobs.” She added: “The variety of jobs we have done over the past few years is amazing, and our job is to find solutions for people – if someone is heading out for work in the morning, and the dishwasher breaks down, we’re there to help. I’ve helped upholster furniture, upload songs to iPods, all kinds of jobs.”

The survey for LV= comes at a time when the UK government has floated an initiative which raised the possibility of tax breaks for people who hire domestic staff as a way of generating extra jobs and freeing more women so that they can join the workforce. John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= home insurance, said: “Employing someone to help out in and around the home is no longer a luxury only afforded to the privileged few. With millions of people working longer hours, employing a helping hand is increasingly seen as a necessity to ensure a good work-life balance.”

Servants led a repressed life with a strict pecking order. In the Edwardian era, domestic staff working in country piles would adhere to a strict, hierarchical pecking order, made up of at least a dozen bodies, and sometimes many more. They would include a dizzying array of workers tasked with very specific tasks, such as, stable boys, maids, and valets, along with those higher up the social scale, such as a chef, a housekeeper and a butler.

Such roles were widespread throughout the country. According to records from 1901, 1.5 million people were employed in domestic service at the beginning of the Edwardian era. While the great houses were also home to the domestic staff as well as the families they looked after, and sometimes provided advancement as well as employment, it was often a repressed and limited life. It was common for staff to abide by a host of rules, such as having to stand still when being spoken to.

Over a quarter of all UK households employ some form of home help, research has found.

'Upstairs Downstairs' Britain alive and well - Over a quarter of all homes in Britain employ some form of domestic help in a demonstration that the ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ culture is alive and well, new research shows. Despite the depressed economic climate, around 28 per cent of households regularly employ help on a regular basis, according to a survey by LV home insurance. People employed include cleaners, child-minders, gardeners, dog walkers and handymen. LV, which was formerly known as Liverpool Victoria, found that people pay out an average of £40 cash-in-hand to helpers, amounting to almost £500 a year.

They also include home hairdressers, baby sitters, car cleaners, window cleaners, dog walkers, and people to clean and iron clothes. However the list of helpers does not include builders, plumbers, painters or decorators. John O’Roarke, managing director of LV home insurance, said: “Employing someone to help in and around the home is no longer a luxury only afforded to the privileged few. “With million of people working longer hours, employing a helping hand is increasingly seen as a necessity to ensure a good work-life balance.” However Mr O’Roarke warned people looking to get help in the home to vet any potential worker. “When hiring someone to work in your home it is important to thoroughly vet people and check the conditions of your home insurance to ensure you are fully protected,” he said.

Window Cleaning + The Economy + Luxury Services

Area luxury service businesses cope with tight consumer spending (Texas): Paying for a car wash, a pedicure or to have your lawn mowed are luxuries, especially during tough economic times. Because of this, companies that offer these luxury services continue to suffer during this post-recession era, according to Crossroads business owners. While no local data exists to support this specific decline, ample anecdotal evidence shows it to be true. Many Victoria luxury service company owners say they cope with a significant dip in business. "People have less discretionary money to spend out of their income, which makes them stay away from luxury businesses," Joe Harper, director of the University of Houston-Victoria Small Business Development Center, said.

Mick Moore's luxury business, Professional Cleaning Service, has served Victoria for 23 years. The company offers residential and commercial cleaning services. "Cleaning is more difficult than people think," Moore said. "Window cleaning on a professional level takes two years of training." When the economy dived, though, more and more people opted to do the work themselves and against paying for his services, he said. To cope, some owners started a second business to create another revenue stream and to help make ends meet, Moore being among them. He launched an advertising business, Impact Advertising. "We had a few slow months at Professional Cleaning Services, and in those months I started thinking about how I can diversify my income," Moore said.

Many other owners of luxury service businesses - from day spas to lawn care companies - share similar stories. When the economy dips, so, too, does customer volume. "We lost about 50 percent of our business during the recession," said Matthew Gaskin, owner of Crossroads Professional Detailing. "We usually have around six employees. Now we are down to three." To stem dwindling customer bases, many business owners offer specials. "We run weekly specials and summer specials, and since Tuesday and Wednesdays are slow we have specials on those days, too," said Dena Buchorn, owner of Eden Day Spa. Scott Taylor, manager at Flex Fitness, said dropping prices for gym memberships helped to lure in more customers. "More people have joined," he said. "This gives people something to do while their unemployed."

Those business owners who can't afford to adjust prices find themselves doing so anyway. Kevin Brown, owner of Edge Landscaping, dropped prices for premium lawn services. "People started seeking out lower-end services," Brown said. "We had to start lowering our prices to keep up with our competition." Successful businesses - especially those that weather down times - rely largely on happy and repeat customers. When discretionary spending is tight, people's expectations of service grows even greater. "Business is about relationships," said Moore, owner of the cleaning service and advertising companies. "The better the relationship, the more customers will think well of you and the more you will succeed."