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A SURVEY earlier this year revealed working mothers in Britain spend 90 per cent of their wages on home help and childcare.
As working hours become longer, more and more people are looking for an army of cleaners, babysitters, gardeners and window cleaners to help run their home.
But it doesn't stop there.
In Manchester, concierge services are being set up that will help with every aspect of your life.
So, where can you find someone you can trust? And how much does it all cost?
Billed as Manchester's finest concierge service www.tadtu.com offers a complete "to your door" service.
Movies are delivered to your home or work with a selection of snacks and drinks and collected the next day. Restaurant meals can be delivered for a dinner party or instead of a takeaway.
The site also offers a complete supermarket shopping service, a laundry service, cleaners and parcel re-direction packages.
A one-stop-shop is Elite Errands of Rochdale www.eliteerrands.com. They will do most errands, from picking up your shopping and the kids up from school to ironing and even arranging corporate hospitality.
www.tenuk.com promises to manage any task you need doing - as long as the request is legal and ethical the only limitation is your imagination! The site will arrange beauty and hair appointments, buy presents, book a holiday, look after your pets and even act as your virtual "extended" family - supporting your children by arranging their education, healthcare, childcare and leisure activities.
Another lifestyle management and concierge company www.iridium8.com currently operates in and around the north west.
The site will do all your running around for you and their list of endless services includes reserving restaurants/theatre tickets, filing your paperwork, organising your photos, collection of urgent forgotten items from home, post or parcel collections etc.
If you are entertaining, go to www.cheftogo.co.uk for your own personal chef for one evening. Prices start at £25 per head, but if that's a bit steep, you can always rely on www.sainsburys.com or www.tesco.com to deliver a few luxury ready meals to reheat.
A service that will, hopefully, catch on soon is www.movie2u.co.uk . When you are planning an evening in with a video, the last thing you want to do is trek outside to pick it up. This company will deliver the video of your choice by bike and collect it the next day.
The web address for www.city-visitor.com/Manchester suggests it's just a site for visitors, but, in fact, the site is a great directory for people living in the city.
It has details for every service from personal chauffeurs (www.notjustacar.co.uk) to gardeners (12 are listed).
www.touchmanchester.co.uk is a community portal with over 31,000 listings in its Manchester business directory. It is clear and easy to use - a search of domestic cleaners brought up 66 results so there's no excuse for an untidy house.
Two of the larger companies are www.kingsmaid.co.uk and www.thehomemaids.co.uk.
www.findmeawindowcleaner.co.uk includes an extensive database of window cleaners across the UK, and has been developed by Anglian Home Improvements, in conjunction with the National Federation of Master Window and General Cleaners. Simply enter your town or county and a list of window cleaners in your area will appear.
If ironing is one of the domestic chores you really hate, try www.pressing-matters.com . With branches throughout the north west, they will collect and deliver.