Company History

Our New Van Lance Foord and Denis Coote started Nu-Clean Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Business in 1976. Both partners were then employed full time as a telephone engineer and furniture remover respectively.

They both worked hard building Nu-Clean on a part time basis during which time they carried out cleaning demonstrations at Salisbury's Victoria Park hospital fete as well as other venues.

Lance found it exhausting doing a complete day's work and then starting cleaning well into the late evening.

The pair had their first big break when they received a telephone call from Rolls Royce at HMS Sultan in Gosport, asking them to remove oil spillages on a regular basis. This led to further work which included the Cunard ship, QE2.

The profit from this and other jobs enabled the purchase of Nu-Clean's first commercial vehicle.

In 1977 both partners decided to resign from their regular employment to become self employed.

Life was difficult paying a mortgage and providing for a family and things like holidays were not even part of the equation. because of Nu-Clean's excellent quality of work and high standards of service they soon became a household cleaning name in Salisbury.

Lance says: "The most difficult job was educating the public away from shampooing carpets and upholstery, to use modern methods such as hot water extraction (steam cleaning), which is still currently used but with more sophisticated machines."

In 1984, Lance and Denis decided to go their separate ways and Lance continued to build Nu-Clean as sole proprietor from an office in Devizes Road. Denis went on to build his own successful business in sales.

Together, with the carpet and upholstery cleaning, Nu-Clean carried out a 24-hour emergency fire and flood damage restoration service, giving priority to burst pipes, particularly during Christmas and New Year festivities.

In 1989 Lance's son Ashley joined the company and his enthusiasm and hard work helped the continuity of the good name of Nu-Clean.

In 1995, Ashley suggested that an expansion into dry cleaning would be beneficial and although the competition was tough, with Nu-Clean's reputation, a success was made of it.

In 1996, Ashley bought premises in Fisherton Street and opened Nu-Clean Dry Cleaners. Now any cleaning job is of interest to the company, who, says Ashley. "Will guarantee a first class service."

In 2001 Lance and Ashley decided to seperate the business and Ashley went on to expand Nu-Clean Dry Cleaners and Lance concentrated on his carpet and upholstery cleaning company where he operates from the same building. The two businesses compliment each other and work very well.

Since moving into dry cleaning, Nu-Clean Dry Cleaners has gained large cleaning contracts from companies such as Salisbury District Hospital, the Army, Salisbury District Council and Marlborough College which caters for members of the Royal Family.

Over the years Nu-Clean has carried out dry cleaning for many well known dress makers, clothes designers, (even traveling to London for well known interior designers), makeup artists, retail outlets, national celebrities and as well as many local hotels and businesses.

Our customers come from other towns and cities where their local 'cleaners' just don't have the experience or expertise in stain removal, cleaning and finishing especially with delicate, expensive fabrics and unstable dyes. At least not to our high personal standard and results.

Ashley's comments regarding the business are: "We pride ourselves on our reliability and quality of service which would not be possible without our excellent team."