Siva Kugathas, owner of ServiceMaster Clean AAA, has been named Franchisee of the Year at the European Franchise Awards 2024.
Siva Kugathas has long been a trailblazer in franchising.
He arrived in the UK at 18 from war-torn Sri Lanka and worked from the minute he arrived on British shores.
A single father, he was determined to make a name and a better life for himself and his family.
As a highly decorated entrepreneur with over 20 years of franchising experience working for brands like KFC and Pizza Hut, Siva joined ServiceMaster in 2016 as the owner of ServiceMaster Clean AAA and has been committed to going above and beyond to drive excellence in franchising ever since.
Upon joining ServiceMaster in 2016, Siva transformed a business turning over £50,000 into an empire of nineteen successful territories spanning from Inverness to Dover.
Now, he has risen to new heights, representing UK franchising for ServiceMaster Brands UK and the British Franchise Association as Franchisee of the Year at the European Franchise Federation’s European Franchise Awards 2024, which he dedicated to those who have helped him get to where he is today:
“I am delighted to win this award. First, I would like to thank the BFA for bringing us here and ServiceMaster and their team for helping me get here. Most importantly, thank you to my team for helping me bring home this the biggest award of my career. I want to dedicate this to Kinga Derenowska, who has recently left us. Kinga, this one is for you.”
The winning formula: How Siva became Franchisee of the Year
As Franchisee of the Year, Siva has demonstrated a track record of strong overall development and innovation, care for staff and collaboration with other franchisees within the ServiceMaster Clean brand.
The judges, who were all key figures in the world of franchising from the Netherlands, UK, France and Germany, were so impressed by Siva and his accomplishments that they came to the unanimous decision to award him Franchisee of the Year.
Here’s why…
Employee Advocacy and Development
After doubling the size of his business eighteen months after purchase, Siva acquired eighteen further territories in seven years.
In that time, he has grown his staff from seventeen employees to a 925-strong team who, through Siva’s mentorship, grow in their fields and achieve ambitious targets. All this in an industry with notoriously high staff turnover.
This included adding a sales team supported by ServiceMaster’s head office. This team is responsible for ServiceMaster Clean AAA’s ability to pull in an average of twenty-five monthly contracts.
Siva has also implemented multiple bonus schemes for full-time employees, which is unheard of in cleaning and generates excellent employee advocacy. His sponsorship scheme supports management staff studying any course of their choice to support their growth and development.
This has reduced staff turnover and helped recruit over one hundred and fifty new employees in 2023 – with 98% of his management team being internal promotions from cleaning roles.
Environmental Initiatives and Corporate Social Responsibility
Siva has undertaken several initiatives to reduce his business’s environmental impact as part of an ongoing strategy from ServiceMaster Ltd. to reach net zero by 2030.
Last year, Siva purchased a plot of land named ‘The ServiceMaster Woodland”. He is actively conserving this land to offset the company’s carbon emissions by planting trees for each new contract he wins. YTD, this amounts to over 239 trees and counting, which will absorb over 5000 lbs of carbon yearly!
Siva has donated thousands of pounds and hours to local and international charities.
This has included participating in events for the local YMCA, raising thousands of pounds and donating £5,000 to them for training and development of their staff by providing sponsorship for two years to allow a homeless individual to live in private accommodation.
He also delivers regular non-profit cleaning for them, allowing their facilities to maintain hygiene standards for those in their care. This led them to name a room after ServiceMaster Clean at the Guildford Foyer.
He has taken part in charity initiatives alongside his team, covering 200 miles in one month to sponsor the planting of trees and fundraising to provide shelter for women and children recovering from domestic abuse and gender-based violence.
Franchise Advocacy
As a strong advocate for ServiceMaster and the franchise industry, Siva mentors new franchise prospects and helps fellow franchisees with queries.
He is often the first to respond to a question in the network groups and will visit and host franchisees to share strategies and observations, supports the development of new ideas and is always the first to trial new initiatives, strategies and pilot projects.
Client Support and Satisfaction
Siva’s commitment to going above and beyond also extends to his customers, as his approach to customer service is to exceed his client’s desires and leave them in a far better place than they started.
His team conduct regular audits, allowing customers to submit personal feedback directly to the team to put the customer experience at the forefront, allowing Siva to understand where he needs to improve and how to help deliver an even better experience.
Since implementing this, he has observed a growth in customer satisfaction, measured through industry-recognised Net Promotor Scores (NPS).
In the cleaning industry, an NPS score of above zero is good. 50+ is excellent, and anything over 70 is exceptional. Siva’s scores reached 100 in 2020 and stayed over 50 since, with a score of 77 last year and 80 in 2024 so far.
What’s next for Siva?
Looking into the future, Siva aims to continue researching new ways to better the environment as part of his CSR activities, including the goal to make his fleets electric and his business carbon-neutral by 2030.
Maintaining his impressive growth, he is also on track to hit his goals for the future by following his unstoppable trajectory and utilising his close connection to the network, trust in the brand and passion for delivering a quality service. The future is bright for ServiceMaster Clean AAA.
Need an award-winning cleaner?
If you need an award-winning contract cleaner decorated on a continental level as part of an established and decorated brand, call Siva and his team today on 0800 047 1747.
Or nationwide, find your nearest ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services business to see how we can help you today.
