Buying a Window Cleaning Round: What It's Worth (2026)
Rounds change hands constantly, usually with a handshake and a notebook. Here's how to value one properly, what to check, and how to keep the customers you paid for.
UK window cleaning rounds are commonly valued at roughly 3 to 5 times the monthly clean value — so a round billing £2,000 a month typically changes hands somewhere between £6,000 and £10,000. Tight, well-documented, 4-weekly domestic rounds sit at the top of that range. Scattered, part-time, cash-only rounds sit well below it.
What makes a round worth more
- Density — 30 houses on one street beats 30 across a county.
- Frequency — 4-weekly work is worth more per pound than annual one-offs.
- Records — names, addresses, prices, dates, and payment method in writing.
- Payment method — standing order or card on file beats cash at the door.
- Tenure — customers who've been on the round for years rarely leave.
- Prices — an underpriced round has upside; be honest about how much.
Do this before you pay a penny
- Ask for 6 months of bank statements showing the clean income, not a spreadsheet.
- Spot-check 10 customers by phone or door knock, with the seller's blessing.
- Drive the round in one day and time it yourself.
- Count difficult properties: locked access, 3-storey, conservatories.
- Confirm which customers are actually on frequency and which are 'when they call'.
No records at all, a seller who won't introduce you, prices well below local norms with no explanation, or a round that's been resold twice in two years.
Structuring the deal
Pay in stages, not in one lump. A common structure is 50% on handover and 50% after 90 days, adjusted for any customers who don't stay. Put it in a one-page written agreement covering the customer list, a non-compete radius, and the seller's help with introductions for the first two cycles.
Keeping the customers you bought
Most losses happen in the first two cleans, when customers realise a stranger is at the door. Send a short introduction message before the first visit — who you are, that the price and schedule are unchanged, and how to reach you. Then get every customer onto a proper system with their price, frequency, and history recorded, so the round you bought becomes an asset you can sell later at a higher multiple.
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