Living Wage Week 2015: Happy people & better business

It is a cliché to talk about people being the best assets in business, but that is because it has never been more true. As the co-founder of Clearabee, an on-demand rubbish removal company experiencing a prolonged period of growth, I know from first-hand experience that a happy and well-motivated workforce is crucial for building a successful and sustainable business.

Rubbish removal is not a glamorous and there are few barriers to employment beyond a clean driving licence. We could fill our vacancies by paying the Minimum Wage, but we choose to pay at least the Living Wage to ensure we attract and retain the best people and because we believe that a hard day’s work should be rewarded with a fair day’s pay.

When we hire we look for people whom our customers would be happy to welcome into their homes or businesses: those that are friendly, professional and willing to work hard. Since choosing to become a Living Wage employer we’ve found it easier to find these people and we’ve found that our people are more willing to go the extra mile for our customers. We’ve become a bigger and better business as a result.

Many of our front line junk operatives will earn more than the UK average wage this year, our workforce is happier and healthier, our customer satisfaction metrics have improved, we’ve gone nationwide, expanded from 40 to 75 people, won more than 50 good commercial accounts and helped thousands of new domestic customers.

Becoming a Living Wage employer is the best commercial decision my business partner and I have ever made. We would encourage all companies to do the same.

Daniel Long, Managing Director, Clearabee