1) Tell us a little bit about your professional background and what inspired you to set up A & G Chem-Dry? (Covering Nottingham, Derby, Leicester & Rutland)
Mike and I saw an opportunity to provide the local area with a high quality carpet, rug, upholstery and leather cleaning service. We were keen to build a business simply based on exceeding our customers expectations.
We saw the Chem-Dry cleaning system, using a fantastic, unique solution called “The Natural” and were so amazed by the cleaning results we were sold straightaway!
Before we bought the business, I was working as an Area Manager in the East Midlands for a Cancer Research Charity, having started with them in an office-based role some years before. My husband Mike was looking for a change of direction after a successful career in the packaging industry and we looked forward to the opportunity to work on and build A&G Chem-Dry together.
2) What do you love about what you do?
So much to choose from! But if I had to narrow it down to just one thing, it would be opening the completed questionnaires that our clients fill in. Nothing beats the satisfaction of reading positive feedback from our delighted A&G Chem-Dry Clients.
3) What has been your biggest challenge to date?
For me it has to be facing my fear of heights (and not washing for a week!!) and taking on Mount Kilimanjaro earlier in the year, in support of our Charity of the Year, Asthma U.K. My memories of scaling the terrifying Baranco Wall brings me out in a cold sweat still, but I kept telling myself “If Cheryl Cole can do it ………” !!
4) And your greatest achievement?
Apart from managing NOT to scream “Gary!!!! Mark!!! Jason!!!!” when the boys from “Take That” boarded the same flight as Mike and I, my greatest achievement would have to be the awards we have won over the years – including the top accolade “International Chem-Dry of the Year” the year after we won the U.K Chem-Dry of the Year. Although the award for Chem-Dry of the Year – Midlands Region, which we’ve won three times now, still means the most to us.
5) What are your plans for the future?
To continue growing the business by developing and enhancing the carpet & upholstery cleaning experience for our clients. This summer we launched a fabulous new web-site www.ag-chemdry.co.uk which we see as growing into the number one “go to” information point in the area for carpet & upholstery cleaning advice. We love the new marketing opportunities that technology brings, such as QR codes and enjoy the fun element of Social Media for engaging with our clients and the local community on Facebook and Twitter
6) And finally, if you were on route to an important international business meeting and got randomly stranded on a desert island on route, what 3 things would you be delighted to see wash up on shore next to you?
This calls for a practical approach! So, I would be delighted to see the adventurer Ben Fogle ………. Oh, and a compass and a two-person canoe!
