How we started
Soft Wren Cleaning began in early 2018 when our founder, Laura Metcalfe, left a facilities-management role at a large Manchester hotel group. She had spent eight years overseeing housekeeping teams across three properties and noticed something frustrating: the cleaning companies hired for overflow work were unreliable. Teams arrived late, skipped rooms and rotated staff so often that nobody learned the building.
Laura decided to build the kind of company she had always wanted to hire. She started with one client, a letting agent in Didsbury who needed consistent end-of-tenancy cleans, and grew from there by word of mouth. Within eighteen months the team had expanded to six cleaners and a small office on Nightingale Close.
Today we employ twelve people, serve over 160 regular clients across Greater Manchester and have completed more than 4,200 individual cleaning jobs. The company is still independently owned, still based in Manchester, and Laura still reviews the checklist feedback from every single visit.
What guides us
We keep our values short because long lists are easy to ignore. These four ideas shape every decision we make, from hiring to scheduling to choosing which cleaning products to stock.
Consistency
A good clean once is easy. Repeating it every week for two years is hard. We track every visit against our 42-point checklist so standards do not drift over time. If a cleaner misses a step, the next-day review catches it and we address it before the following appointment.
Transparency
We quote a price and explain exactly what it covers. No hidden fees for products, travel or "admin." If the scope changes mid-job, we call you before doing extra work. Our end-of-tenancy clients receive timestamped photos so they can see exactly what was done.
Lower impact
We use plant-based, biodegradable products for most tasks. Microfibre cloths get washed and reused rather than thrown away after each job. Where a stronger chemical is genuinely needed (oven degreaser, for instance) we use it sparingly and ventilate the area properly.
Respect for our team
Every cleaner earns above the Real Living Wage, receives paid holiday and is enrolled in a workplace pension. We do not use zero-hours contracts. People who feel secure in their jobs do better work, and our 89 per cent client rebooking rate reflects that.
Meet the team
We are a small group. That is intentional. Keeping the team tight means you see the same faces each visit, and those faces know your home.
Laura Metcalfe
Founder and operations lead. Eight years in hotel facilities management before starting Soft Wren. Handles scheduling, quality reviews and client consultations.
David Entwistle
Senior cleaner and team trainer. David joined in 2019 and now leads our two-person deep-cleaning crews. He developed the 42-point checklist we use on every job.
Anika Sharma
Residential cleaning specialist. Anika manages our busiest weekly route across Chorlton, Didsbury and Withington, visiting up to six homes per day with her cleaning partner.
Jerome Clarke
Commercial team lead. Jerome oversees evening office cleans in the Northern Quarter and Spinningfields. He previously worked in contract cleaning for a Manchester university.
Ready to talk?
If you would like a free, no-obligation quote for your home or office, get in touch. We reply within one working day.
Phone: +44 161 696 8880
Email: [email protected]