Merry Maids Franchise | Build a Domestic Cleaning Business Backed by 35+ Years

A Proven Cleaning Brand with 35+ UK Years

The Merry Maids Franchise is one of the most established names in professional domestic cleaning, bringing world-class systems and a globally recognised brand to your doorstep. As part of the ServiceMaster family, it has been helping franchisees build successful, recurring-revenue cleaning businesses in the UK since 1990.

A Proven Model in a Recession-Resilient Market

Domestic cleaning is an essential service. Busy professionals, families and elderly homeowners all need reliable help, and that demand does not disappear when the economy slows. The Merry Maids Franchise gives you access to a business model refined over more than three decades, with dedicated support at every stage of your journey.

As a Merry Maids franchisee, your role is to manage and grow the business, not scrub the floors yourself. You recruit, train and supervise a team of employed cleaners, build client relationships and market your services within your exclusive territory.

What Makes Merry Maids Stand Out

• ✓ Part of the globally recognised ServiceMaster Group, with over 65 years of franchising experience
• ✓ Recurring revenue model: most customers book regular weekly or fortnightly cleans
• ✓ Comprehensive pre-study and 10-day head office training academy covering all aspects of running your business
• ✓ Leicester-based support centre with specialists across marketing, HR, IT, finance and health and safety
• ✓ Up to 70% of the franchise fee can be financed through major banks, subject to status
• ✓ Exclusive territory protection for the duration of your franchise agreement

Merry Maids' employed-team model - branded cleaners work in pairs to deliver consistent quality across recurring weekly and fortnightly bookings

Franchisee Voices

Long-standing Merry Maids franchisees speak consistently about the value of the network and the support available to them. One multi-area owner built from a single franchise to four territories over 15 years, employing more than 40 staff. Another highlights the depth of peer-to-peer support, describing the franchisee community as a genuine resource for problem-solving and idea-sharing.

The Investment and Your Path Forward

The Merry Maids Franchise requires a franchise fee investment, with a portion typically financed through the franchise departments of major UK banks. In addition to the franchise fee, you should plan for working capital to cover the early months of trading while your client base builds. Franchise fee covers training, onboarding, equipment, supplies and your initial marketing launch.

According to the British Cleaning Council, the domestic cleaning industry is worth over £4.7 billion and continues to grow year on year. With an ageing population, dual-income households and an increasing premium placed on personal time, demand for trusted, professional cleaning services shows no sign of slowing.

The Merry Maids Franchise is well suited to motivated, people-focused individuals with strong organisational skills. Prior experience in cleaning is not required. What matters is your ambition to build a business and your commitment to delivering excellent customer service.

Training and Support

New franchisees begin with a comprehensive pre-study pack before attending a 10-day training academy at the ServiceMaster support centre. The programme covers business management, marketing, HR, recruitment, IT systems and the Merry Maids cleaning methodology. Following launch, ongoing support is available from a dedicated team and the wider franchisee network.

From Omaha to the UK: The Brand Journey

Dallen Peterson founded Merry Maids in Omaha, Nebraska in 1979, building a residential cleaning system the family could franchise. The concept caught on quickly across North America, and in 1988 ServiceMaster acquired the brand. Two years later, in 1990, Merry Maids opened in the United Kingdom under ServiceMaster's UK operation, which had been franchising from its Leicester base since 1959. In October 2020, ServiceMaster Global Holdings sold the ServiceMaster Brands portfolio (including Merry Maids) to Atlanta-based private equity house Roark Capital in a $1.553 billion cash transaction, separating the franchising businesses from Terminix. The Leicester support centre and the UK franchisee network continued operating through the change of ownership.

Inside the Investment

Merry Maids is positioned as one of the more accessible entry points into UK franchising. The minimum personal investment is around £5,999 plus VAT, representing roughly 30% of the total cost, with the major UK franchise banks (HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland) typically prepared to lend up to 70% of the balance subject to status and a viable business plan. That positioning is unusual for a global brand of this scale and reflects the network's deliberate strategy of removing capital as the main barrier to franchisee recruitment.

The Two-Week Training Academy

New franchisees follow a structured pre-launch programme designed for people coming in without a cleaning background. Week one is a blend of classroom sessions at the Leicester Franchise Support Centre and virtual modules delivered from home, covering business management, marketing, recruitment, HR, IT systems, finance, health and safety, and the Merry Maids operating method. Week two is spent in-territory with an experienced franchisee, observing every part of a working business: managing a team, going out to quote new clients, riding along on cleans, and seeing how scheduling, billing and customer relationships fit together in practice.

The UK Cleaning Market in 2025

The macro backdrop is supportive. The British Cleaning Council's 2025 research report values the wider UK cleaning, hygiene and waste sector at a record £66.9 billion, up more than 10% in twelve months, employing roughly 1.49 million people (around 5% of the UK workforce) across some 78,915 businesses. Industry trackers put household uptake at roughly 17% of UK private households now using a cleaner, with adoption climbing to around 40% among under-35s as dual-income households and longer working hours make outsourced home help a normal household budget line rather than a luxury. For franchisees, the relevant point is that demand is being driven by demographics and lifestyle, not discretionary spend, which is why the segment held up well through the post-pandemic squeeze.

For the latest sector figures, see Facilitate Magazine's coverage of the British Cleaning Council 2025 research.

What Franchisees Say

Long-serving Merry Maids UK owners have been recognised through the whichfranchise Great British Franchisee Awards. Two of the network's most established operators describe the model in their own words.

Interested in exploring more opportunities in this sector? Take a look at other cleaning franchise opportunities available on Franchise Hunt.