Hi Mark, for a starter I would forget trying to get one of the operatives to work a one hour shift unless you have another job that they can drop onto close by. Why not just get the two ops to work a two and a half hour shift as they will still be under the Nic level.
I would request further information on the current staff's employment terms and conditions because if you win the work they will transfer to your comapny under TUPE. In a nutshell that means you must maintain their current t&c's and it's as if they have worked for you from the moment they first started cleaning the site. This means there could be redundancy implications.
So wages @ £7 = £175. plus 10% for holidays (check do they need to work Public Hols), tabards @ 30p each. Materials @ 5% of the wages. Equipment - Numatic's @ £1.00 / wk, HS polisher @ £4.50/ week. Then add your o/h and margin. You will probably be around the £11.00 / hr mark to be competetive but Initial / ISS / Mitie etc could still do it far cheaper. On average large cleaning companies are only making 4-7% net profit! Not an easy way to make money.
If you would like a Daily Cleaning costing spreadheet just e-mail me.
phil.dixon@newlifecleaning.com