Is it Cost Effective to Clean your Own Offices?

In 2022 we are all feeling the pinch. The pandemic has hit many businesses hard and lots of us are trying to find ways to recoup our losses and recover costs where we can. It’s always a good idea to have a good look at your spending and see where you can make cuts. But you have to do it mindfully and make sure you are not cutting essential services or giving yourself more of a headache than you need to.

Offices need cleaning. There’s no getting away from it. Not only do you need to present well for any potential and ongoing customers, but you must protect the health and safety of your staff too. Studies show that offices that are cleaned well regularly have lower instances of staff sickness and better mental wellbeing for employees overall. So, we know the cleaning needs to be done, but with the current economic climate you might be considering whether it would be cheaper to do the cleaning yourself.

Let’s look at it . . .

The above detail looks at typical price ranges for commercial cleaners. The amount that your cleaning costs you with a commercial cleaning company will depend on what your needs are. Most offices find that they fall within the low needs bracket. If regular cleaning is maintained then grime is not building up so there’s rarely a need for any deep cleaning services, just regular upkeep. The size of your office space will be a factor, because obviously the bigger the office the longer it takes to clean. How much equipment you have that requires cleaning will make a difference too. You might want to get a deep clean done annually, or as a one off to start if your office hasn’t been properly cleaned in a while.

A good commercial cleaning company will come out to do a quote for you, assess what your needs are and come to an agreement with you about how to move forward. You should make sure they measure your office or give them some plans.

Commercial cleaning companies will bring their own equipment and cleaning supplies. They also obviously do this professionally, so they’ll be fully up to date on the deeper cleaning methods and processes required to keep us all Covid safe.

To assess whether or not it would be cost effective to take on your own cleaning let’s take a look at a typical case.

• Medium office (employing 20-30 people)

These can usually be cleaned professionally in 2-3 hours per day with just one cleaner. This should be completed at an estimated cost of £150-£225 per week.

If you were to complete this cleaning yourself, firstly you need to remember that that’s 10-15 hours of an employed cleaner costing £100-£150 per week. You need to take time out of your working day, to manage the cleaning meaning you’re not spending time doing what you’re good at. Plus there are administration costs, employers NI (possibly), payroll, insurance and holiday cover. If it’s more than your cleaning would cost with a commercial company, then you’ve already made a loss before you’ve started. On top of that, you’ll need to buy your own cleaning equipment and products.

How much is cleaning equipment for regular office cleaning?

You’ll need to purchase equipment and products that will need to be replaced at different times. We’ve put together a list of estimated costs below. This is based on the small office we mentioned above.

• Broom: £10 – replaced 6 monthly
• Mops, rags, and sponges: £15 – replaced monthly and washed after each use
• Dusting supplies: £15 – replaced monthly
• Cleaning and washing detergents: £20 per month
• Paper towels and cleaning wipes: £45 per month
• Trash bags: £30 per month

Based on the above list, cleaning supplies alone will cost you an average of £125 per month. Let’s add to that a fairly low estimate of £30 an hour for your time.

If you spend 2 hours a week, or 8 hours a month managing cleaning at your office – that’s £240 for your time, plus £750 inc holiday cover and overhead for the cleaner, plus £125 for equipment and supplies. Cleaning your office yourself just cost you £1115 a month. And a commercial cleaning company will cost you £975, even at the higher end of the price bracket.

So, it’s quite clear from these calculations, that cleaning your own offices really isn’t cost effective at all. It’s also a major hassle. It’s definitely at least worth gathering some quotes and you can actually save yourself as much as 40% on costs by shopping around. For larger offices the costs will be higher, but so will the cost of your time and supplies be if doing it yourself.

We’d be more than happy to assist you with all your commercial cleaning needs. Please do give us a call and we’ll come out to see you for a free, no obligation quote.