Skipton’s Just Ask Domestic Services achieves ‘ethical’ business award
Craven Herald • 30 January 2014
Social Enterprise Mark Accreditation
Steve Hulbert, co-founder of Just Ask, was presented with the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark by Councillor John Kerwin-Davey, Mayor of Skipton and Councillor Donny Waites, Chair of Craven District Council on the 22nd January. Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Director of North Yorkshire Public Health and Roy Aldred, Chief Executive of SCAD were also present at the ceremony
Steve Hulbert, Managing Director at Just Ask Domestic Services stated “Just Ask is the only community interest company in the Craven area that provides domestic services and has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark… in fact we may even be unique in the whole of the UK.” He continued, “Our passion at Just Ask is being in business to bring benefits to our community through offering affordable domestic cleaning services for all. However, more significantly, we offer subsidised domestic cleaning and home help services to qualifying elderly people.”
Steve explained, “Our model is simple; we use the profits from our full-fee paying customers towards subsidising help for elderly people who would otherwise not be able to afford our services. Crucially, because we are a community interest company that operates on a ‘not-for-profit’ basis, we don’t have a priority to line the pockets of franchisees or business owners.” When asked about the reaction from their full-fee paying customers to the company’s ethos, he said, “Many of our full-fee paying customers have told us that they find it satisfying to contribute towards helping a vulnerable group such as the elderly.”
Steve goes on to explain what it means to receive the Social Enterprise Mark, “It’s a great honour for Just Ask Domestic Services as it recognises the hard work that we’ve put in to helping our local community.” He added, “The Government defines social enterprises as businesses with primarily social objectives whose profits are principally reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.”
Anne Mountjoy, Communications Manager from the Social Enterprise Mark adds, “As the only certification for genuine social enterprises, the Mark guarantees businesses which meet defined criteria, proving they trade for people and planet. The Mark helps those businesses promote their business ethics and values. We are delighted to welcome Just Ask Domestic Services as the first cleaning and home help company to receive this award and have no doubt they will inspire others to follow this great example of social enterprise.”
Just Ask has changed its name from Domestic Services to Care and Support. Steve Hulbert (Managing Director) explains that the change in name has been made to reflect the change of direction that the organisation has made over the last few years. The organisation will continue to trade as a community interest company that is 'not-for-profit' and reinvests any profits back into the local community through the subsidies that are given to qualifying people.
On the 15th August 2013 Just Ask changed from a private company to the Community Interest Company it is now. The change to a Community Interest Company was made because it was clear that a large number of people requiring support at home with day-to-day tasks such as cleaning, ironing and meal preparation, did not have the financial resources available to pay the normal charges. By changing the organisation into a not-for-profit meant that these services could be subsidised for the most in need.
Incredibly, it has been twelve months since we moved from our old office in the Greatwood Community Centre to The Sidings Business Park. Our new office has given us the additional space that we desperately needed. It has also meant that we can accommodate the whole team for training and staff meetings. We are very grateful to Corrine Hill of Choice Baskets for being a fantastic and supportive landlord as well as meeting any peculiar needs that we have had.
We are pleased to unveil our new website and hope that our current service users, prospective clients and professional organisations will find it helpful to share our ethos and what we do. We will be using our new website to keep everyone informed of any developments in the services that we offer as well as feedback from our service users or their families. Should you find any errors or have any suggestions on how we could improve our website, please use the 'contact us' facility to advise us so that we can correct or update any information.
On the 30th April 2019, Rosie Jowett retired from working for Just Ask, having worked for them since November 2012. Rosie was the longest serving member of the Just Ask team, with the exception of Steve, the MD. Steve Hulbert presented Rosie with a bouquet and commented how much he valued and respected all the work that she had done over the last seven years. He went on to say that Rosie had developed very close relationships with the service users that she had grown to know very well over the years. He said that Rosie would be greatly missed by the Just Ask team and service users. Everyone at Just Ask wishes Rosie continued success with her own business called 'Rosie's Therapies (http://www.rosiestherapies.com), which she will now have more time to dedicate herself to.