Retailers are heading into the golden quarter with a little more wind in their sails. UK footfall rose 1.3% year on year in September, the strongest annual growth since 2023, according to MRI Software, with high streets leading the way at 1.8%. With the busiest weeks of the year now in sight, attention is turning to stock, staffing and window displays. The spaces behind the scenes tend to get less of a look in.
Victoria Hibbert, Managing Director of The Ready Maids, a commercial cleaning company based in Swansea, thinks that is a missed opportunity. “Everyone polishes the shop floor before Christmas,” she says. “But the head office, the staff room and the back office are where your team spends its breaks, plans the day and deals with the pressure. If those spaces are tired or messy in December, people feel it, and it shows up front of house.”
Peak Season Puts Pressure on Every Room
The golden quarter changes how retail spaces are used. Seasonal staff join the team, shifts get longer, and offices that sit half-empty in summer are suddenly full of planners, buyers and customer service teams working flat out. Kitchens and washrooms see far more traffic, deliveries mean more cardboard and more dirt carried in, and winter weather does the rest.
“Cleaning schedules are often set once and never revisited,” says Hibbert. “A routine that works perfectly well in June can fall behind quickly when the headcount doubles in November. We’d always rather plan for that in October than catch up in December.”
Why It Matters for Staff
Retail relies on people, and the run-up to Christmas asks a lot of them. A clean, well-kept staff room or office is a small thing, but it signals that the business cares about the team doing the hard work. It also helps keep winter bugs in check at the very time when a few sick days can leave a shift short.
“The basics make the biggest difference,” Hibbert says. “Shared surfaces, door handles, phones and kitchen areas cleaned properly every visit, washrooms stocked, bins emptied before they overflow. Nobody notices any of it when it’s done well. They notice straight away when it isn’t.”
Flexing Cleaning Around the Calendar
The most useful change many retailers can make is to treat cleaning like any other peak-season resource and scale it up for the busiest weeks. That might mean adding visits during November and December, then dropping back in January, or moving cleans to early mornings and evenings so they never get in the way of trading.
“Businesses shouldn’t have to sign up to more than they need all year just to get through six busy weeks,” says Hibbert. “We agree a written task list with each site and follow it every visit, then add extra visits for peak periods and take them away afterwards. That way the standard stays the same, whatever the season throws at you.”
Consistency matters too. Many retailers have had the experience of a cleaner who knows the site well being replaced by agency cover who doesn’t. “All our cover comes from our own team rather than an agency,” Hibbert says. “When it’s busy, the last thing a store or office manager needs is to explain everything again to someone new.”
A Simple Pre-Peak Checklist
For retailers looking to get ahead before the rush, a few practical steps go a long way. Walk round the back-of-house areas as a new seasonal starter would see them on their first day. Check whether current cleaning hours and frequency still match how the space will be used in December. Book any deep cleans, such as carpets, high-level dusting or kitchen appliances, before the busiest weeks rather than during them. And make sure whoever cleans the site knows about any changes to access hours over the festive period.
“Christmas is the best time of year for so many retailers,” says Hibbert. “Getting the behind-the-scenes spaces right means the team can put all their energy into the customers, which is exactly where it should be.”
With footfall picking up and the golden quarter under way, the retailers that prepare every part of their business, not just the bits customers see, will be best placed to make the most of it.
Terry Clark is the Publisher and Content Director of 365 Retail, with more than a decade of experience covering retail design, technology innovations, store openings and the wider retail industry. He also works closely with leading retailers, suppliers, agencies, events and industry awards across the UK.
