JMS Cleaning Services (UK) Ltd: A Clean Exit with the Right Buyer

The Business
JMS Cleaning Services (UK) Ltd is a well-established commercial cleaning company founded in 2013 by husband and wife Mark and Jean Slattery. Operating across Cheshire, South Manchester and North Staffordshire, the business serves a genuinely diverse client base across both commercial and public sector contracts from a 100% contracted revenue model. 

That last detail matters more than it might first appear. Every client is retained on a minimum 12-month rolling contract, and the average customer lifespan across the business sits at six years. In a sector where churn is common and loyalty can be hard won, those figures speak directly to the quality of service Mark and Jean had built their reputation on over more than a decade. 

By the time the business came to market, it employed over 50 cleaning staff organised into smaller operational teams, supported by a part-time administrator and operated from a modern commercial unit on a small industrial estate in Cheshire. With recent contract wins pointing to strong near term growth, this was not a business in decline. It was a business whose owners had simply reached the point where they were ready to step back, and wanted to do so properly. 

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The Challenge
Mark and Jean’s priority was never simply to sell. It was to find the right buyer. 

That distinction defined the entire process. JMS had a clean, contracted revenue base, long-standing client relationships and a loyal workforce. Handing it to someone who lacked the experience, resources or genuine commitment to look after those people and those contracts was never an option the Slatterys were prepared to consider. 

In practice that meant working through a significant volume of interest over more than four years. The business attracted no shortage of enquiries or offers but offer after offer fell short of the mark. Too many buyers arrived expecting the sellers to finance the majority of the deal. Others couldn’t demonstrate the commercial track record or operational depth to give Mark and Jean confidence that the business would be in capable hands after they left. 

Patience, in this case, was not a compromise. It was the strategy.

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What We Did
From the outset, our role was to protect Mark and Jean’s position while keeping the process moving, screening buyers rigorously, presenting the business correctly, and making clear to all parties what a successful outcome actually required. 

Over the course of the search, we worked through more than 200 prospective buyers. The majority were quickly ruled out: too reliant on the sellers to fund the acquisition, undervaluing what had been built, or simply unable to demonstrate the kind of operational credibility that JMS deserved in a new owner. 

When Roger Green and Spotless Cleaning Ltd entered the process, the difference was immediately apparent. 

Spotless’s approach stood apart from everything that had come before. Roger arrived with testimonials, confirmed funding and a clear offer early in the process, and without the usual rounds of conditional manoeuvring. He never attempted to renegotiate. He treated Mark and Jean as the serious sellers they were, and made it clear from the outset that his goal was to acquire a well run business and grow it, not to unpick what had already been built. 

For Mark and Jean, that approach answered the question they had been asking for four years. Roger’s professionalism gave them the confidence that JMS’s staff, clients and culture would be looked after. In many ways, it was his conduct through the process, not just his commercial credentials, that won him the deal. 

With a completion target in view, we managed the legal and commercial process carefully to ensure nothing drifted, keeping all parties aligned and the timeline on track. 

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The Outcome
JMS Cleaning Services sold at full asking price, with a payment structure that reflected the strength of the contracted revenue base and gave both sides a clean, well-defined path to completion. 

Mark and Jean were able to retire within three months of completion. 

Roger Green and Spotless Cleaning Ltd now take ownership of a business with a contracted client base, an experienced operational team and a clear growth trajectory, ready to be built upon as part of a wider national presence. 

From first instruction to completion: four years and three months. Worth every one of them. 

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In Their Words

Mark and Jean Slattery, who founded and operated JMS Cleaning Services for over a decade, said: 

I was looking at selling my business and needed to find a broker to assist with the sale. My accountant put forward Paul Dodgshon of Business Partnership. Paul made the whole process less daunting than I thought it could be. Gave sound advice throughout the various stages of heads of terms, due diligence, and finally the sales purchase agreement(SPA).

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Paul Dodgshon, Managing Director and Partner at Business Partnership, who handled the sale, said: ,

Helping Mark and Jean find the right buyer for JMS was a genuinely rewarding process, not least because it required real patience and conviction. We had to navigate a wide range of buyers over a number of years, many of whom were unable to meet the standards Mark and Jean had set. But we understood their goals clearly from the beginning, and that clarity made the decision straightforward when Roger and the team at Spotless came along. Their professionalism throughout, the early confirmation of funding, their approach to the people and the process, set them apart entirely. In reality, it was their own conduct that won them the deal. If only every buyer approached an acquisition the way Spotless did. 

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Thinking About Selling Your Business?
The JMS story is a reminder that selling a business well is rarely just about finding any willing buyer. Mark and Jean had a genuinely strong business, profitable, contracted and growing, and interest was never in short supply. But finding a buyer who truly understood what had been built, and who could be trusted to look after it, took time, discipline and a process built around their priorities rather than the first available offer. 

At Business Partnership, we take the time to understand what matters to you beyond the headline outcome. Whether that means protecting a loyal team, securing the right structure, or simply finding a buyer you can trust with something you have spent years building, we are here to make it happen. 

If you are thinking about selling your business, or if you have been on the market without finding the right result, we would welcome the conversation. 

Contact us today for a confidential, no-obligation discussion with your local Business Partnership advisor