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Shaun (a born and bred Cornishman) and I met whilst living "up north", as they say here in Cornwall. Our dream was always to move to Cornwall together and work towards having our own farm. Shaun is from a farming family and had worked on farms his whole life. This was part of my intrigue. Living in cities (Birmingham & Bristol) my whole life, i had always dreamed of living in the countryside surrounded by animals and nature.

We made the move late 2019. Shaun had found a job on a farm here in Cornwall that came with a lovely cottage, and i had found a position where i could continue my role as a process engineer in Penryn. We then had an incredible trip to India and on our way back, Covid and the accompanied panic had started to spread.

Work on the farm continued as usual as it always does. Lets face it, without farmers, we would have no sustenance! I was then furloughed from my position and tied to my dining room table as it was for many in the country. I used the time to find my feet on the farm and when it came to being called back to work, i couldn't face it. But what would i do as an specialist engineer in Cornwall where the best options were commuting to Plymouth daily?

Shaun, as a Cornishman, suggested i try my hand at "cleaning". Naturally, as someone that had worked hard to attain my position as an engineer, i sneered at the thought. Shaun then went on to explain that in Cornwall, due to it's inherent lack on industry in recent years, it's quite normal for people to clean during the summer season to supplement their incomes.

Reluctantly, i agreed. Shaun even offered to come with me for a while (in-between his farming duties) to help me get the hang of it. It became apparent, very quickly, that "employed" work in this industry is almost unheard of. Let alone work if you wanted to work more than just 14 hours a week on a Friday and Saturday! We put this down to the natural "boom bang" of the holiday industry and the traditional set changeovers days. Businesses simply couldn't offer employment due to there being no work in the winter months and nothing to do during the week.

We then went on and found work as "self employed contractors" for a relatively large cleaning company for minimum wage as this was all that was on offer. To begin with, we were placed in holiday parks cleaning caravans. Very quickly we became known for our "high standards" and "great beds". We also realised that were being given new caravans every time. Upon questioning the team leader there, we were told that we clean them so well, they would prefer to rotate us around so each caravan got a "good" clean every now and then.

Of course, Shaun and i were delighted they were pleased with our work, but at the same time we realised that the way we clean is clearly of a higher standard than most. Lets be fair though, a minimum wage job with no prospects, no job security, no holiday pay or sick pay and that was destined to end come October, wouldn't exactly "encourage" anyone to do a great job!

A few weeks went on and news of our good work reached the cleaning firm we were working for. They asked if we would prefer to work in some of their high end houses. I was not going to say no, as by this point, i had had enough of cleaning caravans and questioned if i had made the right move.

The next week, we met our "agent" at this fantastic property in Golant. Overlooking the river with floor to celling windows and a fantastic view. We had a brief 2 minute show around the property, were handed and carrier bag with a very half hearted welcome pack that consisted of some Nescafe sachets, Borders Biscuits and a pint of Tesco's milk. We then went on to clean. Clearly we used the opportunity to sit and have "crib" on the deck (this is Cornish for lunch). This is where we realised, that having the opportunity to have lunch at such a fabulous property, really was a bonus that not many get the opportunity to enjoy.

After a few months of doing this property, learning how poorly managed the company we worked for was, Shaun and i sat in front of the fire one night and said "we could do this better".

A few weeks later, after lots of discussions and market research, Cornish Changeovers was born. We started very small. Shaun and I were the only people working in the company.

From the outset it was clear how we could set ourselves apart from our competition. Fair wages for staff, employees instead of sub contractors, all year round work, great customer communication and welcome packs that show the best Cornwall has to offer. On top of this, we wouldn't accept any properties that weren't a pleasure to clean. Meaning; we would only take on properties that had a view, were by the sea, or in a picturesque valley. Essentially, if you wouldn't like to sit and have your "crib" on the deck (for example), we wouldn't expect any of our team to!

We tried to think of things we could do ourselves, along with things we could do in the winter to prepare for the season, enabling us to offer all year round employment. We started by buying all of our own linen and built a make shift laundry with oversized household appliances. This meant the teams that cleaned at the weekends would then have hours during the week to launder the linen and we had more control over the standard of the linen. We also started making our own soaps to include in the welcome packs. We then decided to box our welcome packs for ease, continuity, and control over what is included (this is the process engineer in me).

Now Three Years later, We have over 30 permanent, employed staff members that enjoy all year round, well paid work (our starting wages are currently £2 more than the living wage!), 8 Vehicles, a state of the art Laundry & Shaun and i even got our dream of having our own farm,  providing affordably priced produce to the local area of Redruth.

This shows us that we're pointed in the right direction. We will do everything in our power to build on this. Our team have become our family. Without them, none of this would work and we are forever looking for new ways to create more opportunities for them. A lot of our "extra services" come from team members that happen to have additional skill sets that are useful to our customers.

Holiday home owners tend to get a bad rep in Cornwall. We understand the reasoning behind some locals being against it. The way we see it, is without holiday home owners, we wouldn't be able to employ these people. We wouldn't have a business, and things would look very different. You owning a holiday home has, in this case, done some good. Not only do you (through us) provide well paid, stable work for local people, you also bring a plethora of wealth to the area. Be it better restaurants, shops, income from local crafters, local tradesman and so on.

Tourism is, and always has, been part of Cornwall. Appointing us to look after your property also does some good for the county and we're very grateful. Thank you!