Radiant Cleaners
social enterprise offers fair wage and fresh start for the unemployed by Kate Partlow
Over 1.3 million people in the UK are unemployed, but for many the odds of getting a job are stacked against them due to problems with mental health, lack of confidence due to prolonged absence from the workplace, poor qualifications, or contact with the criminal justice system. Radiant Cleaners is a social enterprise, based in Nottingham, that offers employment to individuals facing barriers to employment and supports them to take back control of their lives.
Matt Parfitt, founder Radiant Cleaners
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Radiant Cleaners is part ofxxxxx Grace Enterprises Florence, 10 years with and is the first of what will be a collection of social enterprises committed to fair employment. Its founder, Matt Parfitt, left his job as a primary school teacher in 2007 after noticing individuals from his local church had gaps on their CV’s that left them unemployed.
I ran a gardening company for 10 years, but this did not always suit people’s lifestyles, for example those with childcare responsibilities and it was not easy to scale up. It became apparent that we could create more jobs, and have a more diverse team, if we started a reliable cleaning business instead.”
Matt received a grant of £20,000 from Grace Church Nottingham, located on Castle Boulevard, which he used to start up Radiant Cleaners in 2017. He employs 14 people who provide cleaning services to organisations ranging from construction companies, to charities, to software producers across Nottingham.
Matt believes paying the Real Living Wage is simply the right thing to do and a more equitable distribution of money. Being given the opportunity to get back into employment has not only given employees increased financial stability, but has improved their sense of wellbeing. One of Radiant Cleaners’ employees, Helen, had struggled with finding work, and then working on the minimum wage after leaving prison 10 years ago. She has now become the Operations Manager.
Matt explains “I felt called to be a good employer and to help those deemed ‘hard-to-hire’.
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