The founders
VALENTINA HAZELWOOD, 38
Lives in Kent with her husband, Graham.
They have two sons, Samuel, 6 and William, 3.
SONIA KOCHEV, 41
Lives in Essex with her husband, Ivo.
They have two children, Martin, 10 and Victoria, 5.
The idea
In 2002, the co- founders Valentina and Sonia extended their close relationship (they are cousins!) into a business partnership. They founded CLEANWELL, a domestic cleaning and ironing company, based in London.
During the following years, they gained an in- depth understanding of and experience in the domestic cleaning and housekeeping industry. The service they offer to their customers in London is of very high quality.
They decided to expand the business outside the M25 boundary and reach more people with a little help from the Internet- and this is how Good Housekeeper was born.
Valentina and Sonia decided to develop an Internet messaging platform for people looking for domestic help that really worked, was sophisticated and yet simple to use, affordable and for everyone- no matter where in the UK they lived.
A research showed that to use a traditional agency to find a housekeeper could be costly. There were web sites where only a membership would give you an access to housekeepers’ profiles. Also, there were popular web sites where one could place an advert for a housekeeper but they didn’t specialise in housekeeping.
The principles
From the onset, Valentina and Sonia established clear principles for the company that included a genuine commitment to the highest standards of quality and service for their customers.
- Good Housekeeper is just for housekeeping jobs- offered or wanted
- The personal data (name and contact number) is only visible to registered, interested housekeepers
- The ‘Post a job’ form will help one to describe the job in great detail
- A job poster can edit, pause or delete their job posted on Good Housekeeper by logging in to their account
- It will always be affordable to post a job on Good Housekeeper, no more than what you would pay to place it at your local newsagent
- Our Live chat offers support and advice
- We won’t bombard customers with unwanted emails
The future
We have innovative and exciting plans to develop our business- soon we will be launching Good Housekeeper Plus where we will offer an additional range of services to people looking for domestic help and to housekeepers.
Our ambition is to keep growing our business and loyal customers who come back and tell others.