TV house cleaning company shuts - leaving workers waiting for pay

STAFF SAY FILTHY HOUSE SOS PRESENTER OWES THOUSANDS

- By MEGAN BANNER

A FORMER Channel 5 presenter has shut down his cleaning business, leaving 29 members of staff without jobs.

Filthy House SOS presenter Richard Pearson started running Poppies of Wirral more than ten years ago, but the domestic cleaning service was shuttered earlier this month.

Mr Pearson, from Formby, was picked to present the Channel 5 show, which aired in 2020, because of his successful cleaning company.

Though he had no experience in TV at the time, he had years of cleaning expertise under his belt, having incorporated his Heswall-based business in 2014

He previously told the ECHO that the homes he helped clean are "extreme" cases of hoarding and uncleanliness.

This month the ECHO was contacted by former Poppies of Wirral employees, claiming they were owed up to £20,000 in wages between them.

They were upset that, after telling them he was shutting down the business, Mr Pearson then went on holiday to France where he shared pictures of himself on social media while they struggled to pay bills and feed their families after finding out they were losing their jobs.

When contacted by the ECHO, Mr Pearson said that liquidating his business was his last resort after it became unprofitable following the pandemic.

He said he had pumped money from his personal accounts into the business to pay staff, including selling his car in an attempt to cover wages.

However, over one month after employees were told the business was to close, they are still waiting to receive wages they say they are owed.