Boost helps Lancs cleaning firm to double sales

Contract cleaning entrepreneur Graham Coulston-Herrmann has almost doubled his turnover in two years, thanks in large part to Boost’s growth mentoring programme.

Graham, who owns Preston-based Rosemary Glen, along with subsidiaries Enviro Group and Dublcheck, has seen annual sales rise from £250,000 to £480,000.

Graham established his business in 2012 as a contract cleaning enterprise and later took on additional specialist cleaning work.

In 2015 Graham began trading under the Enviro Group brand, cleaning kitchen extraction systems, ventilation hygiene equipment and carrying out kitchen deep cleaning. The group currently employs 55 staff.

Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The programme involved Community and Business Partners matching Graham with seasoned business mentor Carl Bradshaw.

Graham said: “I received a lot of very good advice from Carl that enabled us to better structure the business and drive growth. I have no doubt that his advice was a significant factor in us getting to where we are today.”

Graham added: “The support allowed me to look objectively at the business, which has allowed us to grow and create more jobs. At the same time, we were able to dispose of the less profitable parts of the business and concentrate on the more successful areas. I looked forward to my regular meetings with Carl as I always came away feeling energised and with new ideas to put into action.”

Carl said: “I assisted with advice on sales and marketing, and we also worked on prioritising the more profitable parts of the business above those that were less lucrative. This led to the creation of an administration post as well as a payroll and finance post.”

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