Mr McLauchlan, of Dunedin, has established the Master Cleaners Training Institute and will train 250 trainees in the first 12 months with a set budget of $300,000 a year.
There are also plans to train staff from other companies which employ their own cleaning staff.
He said in an interview Crest-Clean had stepped in to provide training for New Zealand cleaners after changes within the Building Service Contractors Industry Training Organisation (BSCITO).
In partnership with the British institute, CrestClean would provide accredited training programmes in professional cleaning skills.
"CrestClean has experienced significant growth in people seeking out formal industry training as they enter the commercial cleaning sector as a career path to achieving both business and personal goals."
Long gone were the days of part-time employees using the cleaning industry as a stop gap between other jobs, he said.
Customers expected a professional service and the establishment of the Master Cleaners Training Institute would help meet that demand.
CrestClean added 100 staff members to its businesses this year and expected to add another 250 next year. Total staff numbers this year were 1100.
One of the benefits of carrying out training was staff and customer retention, Mr McLauchlan said.
Despite annual staff turnover in the industry being well above 60% some years, CrestClean staff worked the company for six years on average. Some people had been with the company more than 10 years. That meant clients knew who they were dealing with and who was cleaning their premises, he said.
The franchise owners and their staff had turned a part-time job into a career path in the cleaning industry and were earning more than they had before.
CrestClean had been working on the new Master Cleaners Training Institute concept for the past six months, he said.
"We have grasped the opportunity to step in and provide internationally recognised training programmes for the commercial cleaning industry."
In the future, CrestClean would be in a position to offer a customised training programme based around the workplace and tailored to suit all business requirements. That would result in staff who were competent in the necessary core skills, health and safety and best practice process and procedures, Mr McLauchlan said.
The BSCITO announced last week that plans to merge with health, disability, aged support and social services training organisation Careerforce were making good progress.
The merger with Careerforce was a positive growth opportunity and would see training in the industry grow, the organisation said.
CrestClean
• Dunedin-based company employing 1100 people in New Zealand through its franchises.
• Has a further 600 CrestClean employees in India.
• In talks with potential customers in Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia about the CrestClean systems.
• Establishing own training institute.
