When an Edinburgh entrepreneur launched a cleaning firm, she gave a whole new meaning to stripped back style. Soon the Scottish capital's movers and shakers were calling up Victoria Murphy's firm, Glimmer, to help with buffing-up the silverware while naked.
Victoria employs a 15-strong army of naked cleaners – including three men – who charge between £55 and £75 an hour for their service, depending on the level of nudity.
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Before she started recruiting, Victoria first tested the water – giving Edinburgh's front rooms a thorough going over, wearing nothing but her birthday suit. To make sure that the situation would be safe.
"I didn't want to put my staff into any situation I had not experienced myself," Victoria said.
With a degree in events management and a strong work ethic, Victoria was keen to start a business with a quirky unique selling point and began considering the adult service sector.
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While working as a beautician, she first toyed with the idea of starting a webcam work business – though she wouldn't be getting in front of the camera herself – but then stumbled across an American company offering a naked cleaning service and the idea for "Glimmer" was born.
"I knew I wanted something in that adult niche which would be fun and risqué but not extreme," she said. "We are not an escort service. What we offer is fun and flirty. When I did it for a while, I had a laugh and nothing untoward happened."
Glimmer offers three tiers of adult cleaning – with a service in lingerie or underwear starting at £55 per hour, topless cleaning costing £65 an hour and totally naked cleaning at £75 for the hour.
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"None of my staff ever have to do anything they don't feel comfortable with," Victoria added. "The client will choose the option they prefer and I will match the cleaner to that choice."
The naked dress code has certainly done nothing to deter prospective employees, with Victoria receiving over 100 applications last time she advertised for staff.
"The most important thing is that someone has professional cleaning experience," she said. "Then they need to have a good personality, because engaging with the client, chatting to them and feeling comfortable being naked is all part of what makes someone right for this role."
But Victoria admits that their 20 regular clients and 15 who book an occasional clean, have completely shattered her preconceptions about the type of person she imagined would use the service.
"I thought we'd get mostly professional working men in their forties but actually, the clients are much more diverse," she said. "We've had some as young as 30 and others in their 80s. Many of them live alone and a lot of the older gentleman are quite lonely, so it's important the experience is fun and that the cleaners like chatting. We have male cleaners available but women asking for men isn't something that comes up a lot. We're definitely trying to work on that side of things and build it up."
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"When I'm recruiting, I'm not worried about what people look like – as everyone has a different idea of what's attractive – but they do need to be presentable and body confident," she said.
Despite its saucy theme, Victoria said her friends and family have been very supportive about her business.
"They understand this is my baby" she said. "I do spend a lot of time explaining to people that this is a serious cleaning business, too. We clean to a very high standard. Most people ask what the client does while the cleaner is working."
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"They imagine they just sit there while the cleaner puts on a show, but that's not what we do," Victoria added. "A lot of clients have never done anything like this before and are often quite shy. So the cleaner will chat and engage with them, but, most importantly, they'll get on with the job of cleaning the house."
Social media – especially Instagram – has played a key role in advertising Glimmer.
"We can't just put leaflets through people's doors, as there may be families living there and we don't want to offend anyone, so we use social media and also advertise in free listings where we can," said Victoria.
Running her business single-handedly, Victoria has high ambitions for Glimmer and is now recruiting naked cleaners in Glasgow and Aberdeen, saying that once she has conquered Scotland, she will clean up across the rest of the UK.
"I do want to expand across the whole country but for now, we're expanding by offering Naked Party Hosting," she said.
Glimmer is also exploring the idea of offering Naked Handymen, which Victoria believes will appeal to more women, while her current client list is mostly male.
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"I am still working part-time as a beautician doing nails mostly, but I am determined to make a success of this business, so I do work really hard," she said. "I do socialize with my friends and go out and I love taking Louis [her dog] for a long walk, but I run every aspect of the business and so, truthfully, I have very little free time outside work."
For information, visit www.getglimmer.co.uk or follow @getglimmer_ on Instagram
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