Mrs Buckét, a multimillion-pound commercial cleaning firm based in Swansea, has faced renewed criticism after further details emerged of its decision to quietly drop its real living wage commitment for some employees. The company, which had a projected turnover of £11.5m for this year, reduced some staff's earnings to the minimum wage while continuing to present itself as a "living wage employer" on its website.
Leaked Email Reveals Internal Justification
A leaked internal email from Mrs Buckét to staff outlined "the key facts" on the changes. The email admitted the company 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. The real living wage, calculated by the Living Wage Foundation, is £13.45 an hour, compared to the statutory minimum wage of £12.71. Over 16,000 UK employers are accredited by the foundation.
Mrs Buckét built much of its social media brand on the pledge that all 500 staff earned at least the real living wage. Chief executive Rachael Flanagan often spoke publicly about the commitment and her belief in "staying true to our values." However, when the company decided to bring some staff down to the minimum wage, it failed to notify the foundation, which continued to list Mrs Buckét as an accredited employer.
Staff Express Disillusionment
Following the 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 email detailed that 24 colleagues across three sites are paid the national living wage, while over 95% of staff continue to receive the real living wage. It added: "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."
Despite the company claiming it remains a "strong supporter" of the real living wage, some staff are baffled. One whistleblower said: "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?"
Client Pressure and Pay Cuts
One of Mrs Buckét'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 rise by 85p an hour from May 1, 2026. Rather than absorbing the cost, Mrs Buckét cut some cleaners' pay to the minimum wage. A whistleblower said: "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."
Cleaners received letters stating their new pay, and the whistleblower noted the company seemed to be hoping no one would push back. The company's name is based on a character from Keeping Up Appearances, and the whistleblower remarked: "It's very much about the glitz and glam and social media."
Foundation and Company Response
The Living Wage Foundation has said it will be "in touch with the company in question directly" and urged workers to report any breaches of real living wage commitments. Kate Ablett, Mrs Buckét's managing director, said: "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. Last month, Rachael Flanagan was recognised by judges at the Institute of Directors Awards Wales for her belief in a "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." Flanagan started the company as an 18-year-old with a one-woman cleaning operation and has since transformed it into one of the UK's biggest commercial cleaning firms.
