SALE entrepreneur Rachel Ray has tripled the turnover of her business in just two years - reaching a £3.5 million turnover milestone with her housekeeping service.

The landmark comes just eight years she set up her business, Bright & Beautiful, from her home in Sale.

Rachel now has more than 50 franchises operating across the UK, employing more than 300 people nationally and 120 in the north west.

All of the franchises deliver cleaning, tidying, laundry and ironing services.

Rachel, 45, also plans to expand the business significantly in 2015, recruiting 20 new franchisees, creating over 150 new jobs and launching additional specialist housekeeping services.

Rachel, who now runs the business from the head office in Altrincham, said: “As well as building a £3.5m turnover business and creating 300 jobs, we are also working hard to raise the bar and standards.

““The evolving labour market has really shaped the speed at which we have been able to grow both our client and franchisee base.

“People are working longer hours so are employing more domestic help and an increasing number of women aren’t prepared to sacrifice their family for work, which leads them to look at becoming self employed.

“Our business model works so well because the franchisees earn a good salary running the business, delivering an impeccable service for the clients and managing their own team of professional housekeepers, yet they can still be in control of their own diary and create a great work-life balance.”

Mum of two Rachel, who is a former accountant, spotted a gap in the domestic cleaning market. The business has grown from strength to strength with franchisees around the UK employing carefully vetted professional housekeepers and servicing thousands of clients.