St Andrews cleaning company ABBY Group aims to double turnover in two years

The St Andrews based ABBY Group has already launched its development programme by acquiring two firms in Glasgow and Aberdeen. Now, it has sights set on further expansion.

The business was launched in 2008 by locals, husband and wife Robert and Julie May, after they sold their licensed trade interests. They have grown the company from scratch, starting out in domestic cleaning contracts and branching into office cleaning.

They now offer a variety of services across a broad spectrum and have become expert specialists in cleaning work for the country’s biggest housebuilders as they prepare new-build properties for handover to their new owner.

At present, ABBY carries out around 300 new-build cleans every week for firms including Cala, Barratt and Persimmon.

Mr May said: “A lot of work is involved and there are three thorough and separate cleaning stages involved before each house is ready for its new owner. There’s an initial clean after the build is completed, a second clean after snagging and a final clean the day of or the day before the owner moves in.”

The company has made steady growth since it was launched by the Mays just months after the birth of their daughter Abigail - after whom the name ABBY was chosen.

Within the last year it has acquired Glasgow firm Coronet Services which carries out work for,- among others, property management firm Ross + Liddell, and Aberdeen-based First Class Cleaning, whose clients include DHL.

Mr May said these were the first building blocks in a planned expansion project which will involve further acquisitions to help scheduled turnover increase by 150 per cent from £6 million to £15 million in two years.

The company has come a long way since its first crucial break when Mr May met a painter and decorator at a networking event who introduced him to the owners of a nightclub who needed cleaning work carried out. That led to £150,000 worth of work.

Mr May said: “If it needs cleaned … we clean it.”