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Success story: Mori Services

Diakite Mori was a lawyer in the Ivory Coast but, unqualified to practice in London, he had to create his own living if he was to build the future he wanted for his wife and children.

With few options open to him, he started Mori Services, an office cleaning company, with a £5,000 loan, financed by London Business Loans.

Hard work and an unwillingness to quit led to rapid growth. Mori returned for a larger growth loan of £18,300 in March 2008 to finance expansion and to buy more equipment.

Today, Mori manages 25 contracts for banks, retail chains and travel agents. Mori puts his growth down to a strong customer focus. He keeps in regular contact with his customers, tries to be proactive and ensure any cleaning issues are resolved earlier rather than later. As he puts it: "customers like to feel looked after." He also meets his staff on site on a weekly basis for training, planning and to address any issues that may have arisen. He now employs nine members of staff, two of whom have been promoted to become supervisors.

Mori says now, "I feel proud to be a useful member of the community. Every payday I can see smiles on my employees' faces. My vision is to give my children a good start in life."