Staff accuse major Welsh businesswoman of letting them down

Rachael Flanagan is facing accusations of hypocrisy after her firm dropped its real living wage pledge

A multimillion-pound cleaning company has again come under fire after giving further details of its controversial decision to quietly drop its real living wage commitment. Last month we revealed Mrs Buckét had reduced some staff’s earnings to the minimum wage while continuing to present itself as a “living wage employer” on its website.

Now we have seen a leaked internal email from the Swansea-based commercial cleaning firm telling staff “the key facts” on the changes. In the email it admits it should have updated its marketing “sooner” – having only removed the real living wage accreditation from its website after WalesOnline learned it had stopped being valid more than three weeks earlier.

Mrs Buckét – which had a projected turnover of £11.5m for this year – built much of its social media brand on how every one of its 500 staff earned at least the real living wage. Chief executive Rachael Flanagan often spoke publicly about the pledge and her belief in “staying true to our values”.

The real living wage is £13.45 an hour – as opposed to the statutory minimum wage of £12.71 – and is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation to meet “the real cost of living”. More than 16,000 employers across the UK are accredited by the foundation.

When Mrs Buckét decided to bring some staff down to the minimum wage, it failed to notify the foundation, which continued to list the company as an “accredited living wage employer”.

Following our recent report, Mrs Buckét sent an email to staff stating: “I appreciate this is an emotive topic and it’s not easy to see the company we work for criticised publicly.

“The key facts are: we currently have 24 colleagues across three sites paid the [statutory minimum] national living wage. We have 160 customers and these roles relate to two new customer wins this year and one longstanding customer. Over 95% of our colleagues continue to be paid the real living wage.”

It goes on: “We should have removed the accreditation from our website sooner once these colleagues moved to national living wage in May. This has now been corrected.”

The email states the business is still a “strong supporter” of the real living wage – a claim that has left some staff baffled. One whistleblower told us: “If two clients are new, why did they take them on if they were not willing to commit to pay the real living wage, which is a key commitment?

“They willingly quoted and accepted the clients that went against the pledge. It just stinks, really. If it’s only 5% of staff on minimum wage, why did they not make sure all colleagues were still paid the real living wage and keep their accreditation that was so important to them?

“They seemed to have no intention of taking it down from the website or notifying the foundation. They’ve been caught out and they’re doubling down.”

One of the firm’s biggest clients, Llanelli-based distribution giant Owens Group, refused to accept a price increase following the announcement last October that the real living wage would be going up by 85p an hour from May 1, 2026.

“Rather than Mrs Buckét absorbing the hit on their profit margin, they’ve cut people’s pay to minimum wage,” said one whistleblower last month. “The real living wage is on all our marketing material to prospective clients and it’s just not true. We are talking about some of the poorest people in the community, working awful hours and cleaning in horrible environments.

“They say they’re about their people but clearly they’re not. Mrs Buckét could 100% afford to take the hit but the cleaners are the ones that have lost out. That 74p an hour could make a real difference to someone in a cost of living crisis. I think it’s really shady after the way the company has promoted itself.

“Cleaners received a letter stating their new pay and it seemed like the company was just hoping no one would push back. The name of the company is based on a character from Keeping Up Appearances, and that’s exactly what we do. It’s very much about the glitz and glam and social media.”

The foundation has said it will be “in touch with the company in question directly”. It has also urged workers to come forward if they believe their employer to be in breach of their real living wage commitments.

Last month Ms Flanagan was recognised by judges at the Institute of Directors Awards Wales for her belief in “people-first” and “values-led” culture. After being named director of the year, she said: “Our growth over the past year has been driven by staying true to our values.”

When the chief executive started the company as an 18-year-old it was a one-woman cleaning operation, and she has since transformed it into one of the UK’s biggest commercial cleaning firms, with a presence in south-west England as well as across Wales.

In a 2022 interview with WalesOnline, Ms Flanagan took aim at the public perception that cleaners are “poorly paid”, adding: “All our staff are paid at least the real living wage.”

According to the leaked email, the pledge was dropped so Mrs Buckét could “support sustainable growth while continuing to deliver opportunities for our colleagues”.

Kate Ablett, the cleaning firm’s managing director, told us: “Mrs Buckét proudly champions the real living wage (RLW), with over 95% of our team paid at or above this rate from April 1, 2026. In a small number of cases, we have agreed a [minimum] wage alternative where commercial constraints make immediate RLW alignment unachievable in the short-term. Our long-term commitment remains to provide fair pay for all colleagues.”

Owens Group declined to comment.

If you would like to tell us about a story we should be investigating, you can email our investigations editor at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk

Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice.