Nick Dee Shapland, the businessman who grew his sole-trading enterprise into the multi-million-pound company Deeland Limited trading as ServiceMaster Clean Newbury, has retired, shortly before the company is due to mark its 30-year anniversary.
With Nick approaching the age of 70 and taking the decision to retire after almost 30 years at the helm, he has moved the company over to an Employee Ownership Trust [EOT] effective from June 23, 2021, to leave the future of the business in the hands of his loyal employees.
Nick said that the transition of the business into an EOT would “place the future of the business in the hands of the people who have helped grow it over the last 10 years” and was a just reward for their efforts.
Nick told Newbury Today: “We have a great business and a great team in place. Most of the staff have got an average of 10 years’ service so there is a really good foundation there to work from.
“It is my wish for the employees to benefit from the great knowledge and teamwork that has been developed over many years by allowing them to have control over the future of the business.”
The move - which saw Nick’s 80 per cent shares transferred over to the EOT - comes ahead of the 30-year anniversary of the business which will be celebrated on July 31 this year.
That date will mark 30 years to the day since Nick took on the franchise for ServiceMaster Clean Newbury as a sole proprietor, starting a journey which would see him take the business from a man and his van to becoming one of the largest residential and commercial cleaning companies in the world, employing 350 people and holding over 3,500 franchises across the UK, US, and Europe. The business was incorporated as a limited company, namely Deeland Limited, in 1998.
Nick joked: “When I started as a man in a van if you asked me if I would end up having an HR department, I would have laughed at you. It has been quite a journey.”
Part of that journey involved a significant amount of work more recently to make the transition of the business into an EOT possible, but Nick was relieved to finally get the deal over the line and leave the company in the hands of those who have served ServiceMaster Clean so well over the years.
"It has been a process of nearly three years to make the transition possible, in which I needed to negotiate the idea with my franchisor. Having a Trust to own the franchise was not something they had come across before and quite frankly they were not receptive to the idea to begin with. However, with the plans put in place for a senior management team with two directors, I got their blessing.
"Without question for the employees, it provides continuity and the opportunity to contribute to the business and for the customers it is business as usual. For me personally it is peace of mind and the opportunity to ensure the transition goes smoothly, as I do appreciate with my role as Trust chairman there are responsibilities."
Within the UK, ServiceMaster Clean now offers contract cleaning services for both commercial businesses and social housing, professional cleaning of soft and hard furnishings for domestic and commercial properties and fire and flood restoration services for the domestic market. Its operations extend across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire.
Nick and his team of employees are hoping to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the business and its transition into an Employee Ownership at the end of July, should Covid-19 restrictions allow.
