Quality service created new opportunities

Ann O'Hanlon was spurred on to start up her own company with the birth of her eldest daughter. After some time spent working nights in the industry she got contract cleaner Derrycourt off to a flying start, quickly employing 40 people mostly on a part-time basis, thanks largely to word-of-mouth and client recommendations.

Initially, the company serviced offices, schools and retail clients. Many of those original clients remain with her while Derrycourt now takes in the healthcare sector offering specialist solutions such as hydrogen peroxide fogging and infection control alongside more traditional cleaning services.

Diversification into the healthcare arena occurred organically from about 2004. “We started to get recommendations in medical centres and small nursing homes and it flew then because it was clear that we had procedures, standards and auditors in place – things that clients hadn’t seen before.”

O’Hanlon says that while the volume of paper work and administration has ballooned over the years, the increased focus on a paper trail is to be welcomed as a necessary evil.

“Different structures, procedures and training have changed over time and general regulations around, for example, health and safety and employment law – for the most part these changes have been good,” she says.

The paper trail required by bodies such as the Health Information and Quality Authority is useful, says O’Hanlon, for “setting expectations for our staff in terms of when, how long and to what standard the work needs to completed”.

“That gives us accountability in terms of who is doing what, and also that our clients can understand exactly what we are doing for them – that we are delivering a service as opposed to them thinking that the fairies came in during the night and cleaned the place!”

From its inception the ethos of the company was to provide a good service with a quick turnaround. “As the years went on quality became something that we expected and that we wanted to deliver on.”

Personal touch

Delivering on promises has been essential to Derrycourt over the years, as well as the personal touch. “The fact that the client still has direct access to the management team remains important – that they don’t have to wait for a board meeting, that we can turn around a decision quickly.”

Management staff that have come up through the ranks have helped the business maintain quality, says O’Hanlon. “They know how we want the business run and we entrust them to help run the business.

“It is tough to keep a rein on things as a company expands which is why the majority of my time now is spent visiting various sites, being hands-on with clients and meeting new clients.” Until the downturn tendering wasn’t an issue as companies cared little what they paid for a service as long as it was delivered well. “Then 2008 hit and those years were difficult in that you had companies who hadn’t gone to tender for 20 years,” says O’Hanlon.

Derrycourt’s turnover increased 48 per cent between 2008 and 2014 despite it being the most difficult time in business from O’Hanlon’s perspective. “At the beginning [when the business was established] it was difficult, but you are younger, fresher, more optimistic and you have control over it – it’s about how much you put into it.

“Since 2008 it’s about putting a lot of hard work in for a lower return. Turnover throughout the recession increased but our margins reduced – so effectively we were doing more for less.”

O’Hanlon’s husband Martin is director of the business. “My daughter joined the company for six months in 2000,” she jokes of Avril McCarthy, general manager.

McCarthy’s husband Gerard joined Derrycourt in 2007 and is operations manager. One of O’Hanlon’s sons and his wife also work for the company. “As a family business trust is the key thing, that people are loyal to you and you don’t have to be looking over your shoulder.”

Tender

Challenges over the years have included staff wages and the Joint Labour Committee decree that the minimum wage for cleaning operatives be €9.50 an hour despite the legal minimum wage being €8.65.

Derrycourt continued to pay staff at the higher rate meaning that other companies paying staff at a lower rate could potentially tender for lower prices. “If we could pay staff more we would and we weren’t willing to reduce staff wages just because we could – it [the change in the committee ruling] has taken longer than we thought it would though.”

While Derrycourt works with specialist partners to provide additional services such as building management and security, O’Hanlon says she has been careful not to diversify or dilute what she does too much in order to maintain quality of service. The future will be about “keeping on the same path and not compromising on our position,” says O’Hanlon.

www.derrycourt.ie.