[seandyer2003]

Hiya there people, wonder if anyone would be so kind as to help me, i am a window cleaning company at present and have recently been invited to quote for a big contract cleaning a nightclub 7 days a week, i just wondered if someone could give me a heads up on hourly rates etc at the moment as i know there is competition etc, i have been a contract cleaner so i know the work involved however this isnt something i have run before so the pricing & management side of it i am a bit lost, i am however trying to break into contract cleaning so this would be my start, please any help anyone??

Thanks a million in advance

sean
dolphin

[gordonswindows]

Hi

We do contract cleaning and charging depends upon how much you want the work.

Some people claim to charge £15.oo per hour, maybe they do but do they get much work?

We charge low and try to work off volume, i would rather have a low profit that continues for years rather than a quick high but short  one.

Also if you get in at a fair price and do a good job there are always a lot of extras too. The places we clean we also do the windows the gutters, the carpet cleaning and in some although not all we provide the supplies <hand towels soap etc.

Our price begins at £9.50 per hour. For this you get a fully trained and experienced operative, just because we cut our prices tight we do not skimp on the quality of service.

Price high and someone else will take it from you. Price too low you will get fed up and give it away .Price fair do a good job gain the clients trust and the extras (where you make your money) will follow

Remember that one employee doesn't only cost the £6.25 you pay hourly you have to account for the fixed contributions too holiday pay NI etc

Good luck let me know how you get on

cheers

Gordon

[seandyer2003]

thanks gordon, for the advice, so what do you think would typically be needed hours wise as a guess in a reasonably big nightclub that needs 7 mornings a week?? 4 maybe? plus it will prob be pretty disgusting to clean most days, its just the floor bars and toilet areas, plus the window cleaning im presuming thats weekly?

I was thinking around 15 but you say thats too high? What would you pay staff to work 4 hours early in morning??

Thanks

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Sean,

ok is this 4 hours x 4 days if so that 16 hours.

And if that is 16 hours a week then no £15.00 ph will be too much.

To Gordon, Yes people can get £15.00 ph we have jobs that price and some jobs £45ph But when you have several hours grouped together then the price comes down to £12.50

Now 16 hours is a lot a week... £10 x 16 x 52 = £8320 p annum.

Now it is possible that people will go in alot lower.. large companies can afford to do that, I could easily say on 16 hours per week I could go in at £9.00 + vat or even £8.50 + vat

Now if its 7 mornings a week... go in at £9.00 if you want the work!

I could even throw in some free cleaning products...

I could probably throw in a monthly window clean free.


I will say Gordon, it is nice to see someone who prices realistic for a change. And someone from the real world where I live and breathe air... makes this forum what it should be.

Dave

[Karl Wheeler]

Hi Dave
I can see your logic but can i ask how much you would be paying your cleaners especially if you are requiring them to work on a Saturday and Sunday.
If you are only charging the client £9 p/h there does not seem to be much of a profit margin especially after all the extras have been added to the wage bill.

Regards
Karl

[seandyer2003]

16??

No this is 7 days a week pal, i dont know how many hours as ive not been in yet, but id imagine between 2-4 per day (early morning, hopefully with keys!) would you get 2 part timers to do that or one full time, as this being my first contract if i had a full timer and they dont show up id have to go in but with 2 p/t one could cover right? but id only have this one job for them ?!

[seandyer2003]

I am a window cleaner, so i want the window cleaning price to be realistic not a freebie thrown in, or should i throw it in to get good hourly rate?? Wont they wont windows done weekly being a nightclub in a big city?

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Dave
I can see your logic but can i ask how much you would be paying your cleaners especially if you are requiring them to work on a Saturday and Sunday.
If you are only charging the client £9 p/h there does not seem to be much of a profit margin especially after all the extras have been added to the wage bill.

Regards
Karl

Hi Karl,

Well I was only including M - F I have re-read the post and there are 7 days. I am not sure why I thought it was oonly in the week. Sorry.

No on weekends I would pay my cleaners at least £8.00 possibly more so prices will need to be adjusted accordingly for weekends.

As for 2 cleaners doing the job its a good idea so thay way you can have cover if one does not turn up.

So well done Karl for pointing that out, I was very tired yesterday. Once again I apologise.

Ok as it is your first clean... if you want it, you will be up against tight competition. This is not window cleaning prices and showing a WFP system and a flash van.

When you go to price go smart, ask question like any special areas, special attention required.

1. important thing, if this is in the city, do they have cleaners already?

What about TUPE they may need to be transfered over to you. If this is the case you will need to find out what they are being paid.. as you might lose out.

How many cleaners there already and what hours are they doing.. you will need to know that at least. You can then base your quotation on this. with regards to hours.

Things like black bags, chemicals wont be that much. Black bags are the most expensive item I find. These can either be priced seperately for 200 at around £18 - £20.00 or priced in your hourly rate.

So only advice I can give you, is go in as low as you can to make it worth your while.

Trust me you will probably be undercut by a larger competitior.. as we spread the cost of a job(s) across several as we work on quantity. But I am certain that you will be beaten if you go in at £15.00 possibly at £11.00

Athough I do window cleaning as well, including WFP I cant say if they will want the windows done weekly.

Also do your quotation on paper, headed paper, include insurance PL / EL Any certificates you may have. Method statememnt, H&S, Lay out the quotation neatly clean, and easy to read. Also ask them how would they like the quotation, Monthly, Yearly, weekly.

Are you vat registered? That would probably help...

Best of luck if I can help in any way please ask.


Dave

[Pristine Clean]

thanks gordon, for the advice, so what do you think would typically be needed hours wise as a guess in a reasonably big nightclub that needs 7 mornings a week?? 4 maybe? plus it will prob be pretty disgusting to clean most days, its just the floor bars and toilet areas, plus the window cleaning im presuming thats weekly?

I was thinking around 15 but you say thats too high? What would you pay staff to work 4 hours early in morning??

Thanks

Jus t topoint out, I appologised but I was not wrong, see in this post I was working on 4 days as in your post.

Depening on how big the club is, 4 hours per night... Now it may be less hours required so it will not be as many as 16 hours.


Thats where I got 4 days from this post, check out the quote... I would be amazes if they want 7 mornings a week. Especially in this climate.


Dave
Dave

[seandyer2003]

thats what they asked for, they are open every day....its a big place in the city, i reckoned 4 hours a morning but could be wrong....but its definitely 7 days a week, 365 days a year

[d s cleaning]

I have been doing a small club this year although on three floors and allthough it is 7 days a week even in the summer it is only at weekends it gets bad
now this is how i priced it up
    1. how long to clean in summer
    2. how long to clean in winter
    devide this into 2 and  get an average time in my case it works out at about 2hrs per day after averaging it out plus materials I supply everything i need to do the job plus things like toilet roll,soap and c fold
being a club in a seaside town there is a lot of wastage in summer but very little in winter
      now i priced this job at £175 as i do it myself £25 per day but if i was paying some one it would be more like £250
      when i price i make it very clear that the price includes all materials plus new equipment just for this job hoover ect
      in a night club the toilets will block in my case at least one a week in the summer. make it clear that these will be unblocked at the time of clean at £20 (or whatever)a time but i always take a digicam which logs the time and date for very little work normaly less than 20 mins. this may seem expensive but ask yourself how much a plumber would charge then it suddenly it doesent seem so bad
        one last thing i never charge any extra if a private party takes me a long time to clean up BUT i do make up over christmas 
         i charge as follows
         christmas eve / boxing day extra £25 each
         new years day extra £50
         christmas day £100
         yes i will come out on christmas day for my best customers but this makes damn sure i dont have to

[d s cleaning]

I have been doing a small club this year although on three floors and allthough it is 7 days a week even in the summer it is only at weekends it gets bad
now this is how i priced it up
    1. how long to clean in summer
    2. how long to clean in winter
    devide this into 2 and  get an average time in my case it works out at about 2hrs per day after averaging it out plus materials I supply everything i need to do the job plus things like toilet roll,soap and c fold
being a club in a seaside town there is a lot of wastage in summer but very little in winter
      now i priced this job at £175 as i do it myself £25 per day but if i was paying some one it would be more like £250
      when i price i make it very clear that the price includes all materials plus new equipment just for this job hoover ect
      in a night club the toilets will block in my case at least one a week in the summer. make it clear that these will be unblocked at the time of clean at £20 (or whatever)a time but i always take a digicam which logs the time and date for very little work normaly less than 20 mins. this may seem expensive but ask yourself how much a plumber would charge then it suddenly it doesent seem so bad
        one last thing i never charge any extra if a private party takes me a long time to clean up BUT i do make up over christmas  
         i charge as follows
         christmas eve / boxing day extra £25 each
         new years day extra £50
         christmas day £100
         yes i will come out on christmas day for my best customers but this makes damn sure i dont have to
   hope this helps you
                                   dsc

[seandyer2003]

I have been doing a small club this year although on three floors and allthough it is 7 days a week even in the summer it is only at weekends it gets bad
now this is how i priced it up
    1. how long to clean in summer
    2. how long to clean in winter
    devide this into 2 and  get an average time in my case it works out at about 2hrs per day after averaging it out plus materials I supply everything i need to do the job plus things like toilet roll,soap and c fold
being a club in a seaside town there is a lot of wastage in summer but very little in winter
      now i priced this job at £175 as i do it myself £25 per day but if i was paying some one it would be more like £250
      when i price i make it very clear that the price includes all materials plus new equipment just for this job hoover ect
      in a night club the toilets will block in my case at least one a week in the summer. make it clear that these will be unblocked at the time of clean at £20 (or whatever)a time but i always take a digicam which logs the time and date for very little work normaly less than 20 mins. this may seem expensive but ask yourself how much a plumber would charge then it suddenly it doesent seem so bad
        one last thing i never charge any extra if a private party takes me a long time to clean up BUT i do make up over christmas 
         i charge as follows
         christmas eve / boxing day extra £25 each
         new years day extra £50
         christmas day £100
         yes i will come out on christmas day for my best customers but this makes damn sure i dont have to

Surely if they have asked for 365 days a year cleaning, they will xmas etc included in price??

Is it common practice to tell them you will charge x amount for toilet blockage, and working xmas etc?