Domestic Couple
Our main priority is finding a capable, reliable, and adaptable domestic couple who can fit naturally into the needs and rhythm of our family.
This time, we are looking for a proactive, practical, and genuinely helpful couple who take pride in what they do, enjoy being part of a busy family environment and are happy to turn their hands to a variety of tasks.
We are reasonable and considerate employers, and we fully appreciate the importance of personal time, appropriate rest periods, and a healthy working relationship. However, flexibility, initiative, and a willingness to accommodate the natural demands of family life are essential to us.
Housekeeper / Cook – Working Hours and Responsibilities
- Our preferred working hours for the housekeeper/cook would be 8am–6pm, with appropriate breaks during the day, and a slightly adjusted schedule to accommodate Saturday mornings.
- We are looking for someone who is confident and comfortable managing all aspects of housekeeping, laundry, ironing, general household organisation, and family cooking.
- Cooking is a particularly important part of the role. Ideally, we would like someone who genuinely enjoys preparing fresh, healthy, and varied family meals and is happy to take responsibility for meal planning, food preparation and keeping the kitchen organised.
- We have three school-aged children with busy sporting and musical schedules, so keeping their school uniforms, sports kits and equipment washed, organised and ready for use is an important part of the household routine.
- We would particularly appreciate someone who takes initiative, notices what needs doing and can manage their daily responsibilities independently without requiring constant direction.
Houseman / Driver (Property Maintenance) – Working Hours and Responsibilities
The gentleman's role would be varied, combining family driving, general property maintenance, practical household assistance, and some gardening responsibilities.
- We envisage this as a split-shift role, with flexible working hours structured primarily around the children's school runs and extracurricular commitments, and with agreed breaks and downtime between the busier periods.
- Currently, the children need to leave home at approximately 7:25am to arrive at school on time.
- They finish school at around 4pm, after which all three need to be taken to their various sports clubs and extracurricular activities. As these take place at different locations and finish at different times, we need someone who is confident, reliable, and organised when coordinating their journeys.
- The children usually return home from their activities at approximately 8:45–9pm.
- The gentleman's working schedule would therefore need to accommodate the early morning school run and the afternoon and evening driving commitments.
- We certainly would not expect him to work continuously from early morning until late evening. Instead, we would agree on a sensible split-shift arrangement, allowing for appropriate rest periods and personal time during the quieter parts of the day.
Outside of his driving responsibilities, his duties would include:
- General property maintenance and minor repairs, such as changing lightbulbs, hanging pictures and attending to small household issues.
- Monitoring utility meters and identifying any maintenance concerns.
- Managing rubbish, recycling, and general outdoor tidiness.
- Liaising with contractors and assisting with maintenance work when required.
- Looking after the family vehicles, including checking tyre pressures, screen wash, cleanliness and general upkeep.
- Maintaining the small garden belonging to the property where the couple would be accommodated.
- Assisting our gardener with various gardening and outdoor maintenance tasks when needed.
- Helping with other practical household duties as they arise.
- We do not expect him to be a qualified tradesman or professional gardener. However, we would like someone who is reasonably handy, practical, resourceful, and willing to help wherever needed.
- Essentially, we are looking for someone who notices what needs doing, takes responsibility and is comfortable working independently rather than waiting to be given instructions.
- The driving element is particularly important, so a safe, experienced, and confident driver is essential.
Saturday Mornings and Weekends
- As the children's school uniforms, sports kits and equipment bags only come home on Friday evening, we would prefer the housekeeper to work on Saturday mornings to ensure everything is washed, organised, and prepared for the following week.
- In exchange, we would be happy for her to have Monday mornings off, allowing her to enjoy a longer break at the beginning of the week.
- We feel this would be a practical arrangement that suits the needs of the household while also providing some flexibility and balance in her working schedule.
- We would also be happy to guarantee one full weekend off per month, with the remaining weekend arrangements agreed in advance according to the family's schedule.
Naturally, we would ensure that working hours, breaks and days off are agreed fairly and clearly from the outset.
Overall Expectations
Ultimately, what matters most to us is finding the right personalities and attitude.
We are not looking to be unnecessarily demanding or rigid about working hours. Quite the opposite - we would like to establish a sensible, flexible, and mutually beneficial arrangement that works well for everyone.
However, we do need a couple who understand that the purpose of their roles is to support the household and help make family life run smoothly.
We are therefore particularly interested in candidates who are genuinely capable, adaptable, proactive, and comfortable working in a busy family environment with children and pets.
We would also value a couple who are happy to work as a team, support one another when appropriate and approach their responsibilities with a positive, can-do attitude rather than viewing every task as strictly belonging to one person or the other.
In return, we would offer a respectful, fair, and welcoming working environment, with clear communication, appropriate downtime, and genuine appreciation for the contribution they make.
We are very happy to discuss the finer details of the working arrangements with suitable candidates. What is most important to us is finding people who understand the nature of the household, are comfortable with its routines and genuinely enjoy this type of work.