LW Theatres partnership

Venues we serve

Theatres & concert hallsBoutique cinemasMuseums & galleriesVisitor attractionsHeritage & listed buildings How we work The Excell standard Our story The Venue Care Standard guide Questions Arrange a free site visit Call 0333 880 6688 Follow us on LinkedIn
Gilded boxes and tiered circles in the auditorium of Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Specialist venue cleaning · London since 1994

Contract cleaning for London's theatres and heritage buildings

LW Theatres Official Cleaning Services
Partner of LW Theatres

Daily cleaning, between-show turnarounds and dark-day deep cleans, led by a named supervisor and scheduled around your show, never our shift pattern.

Arrange a free site visit Call 0333 880 6688

Our partnership

Official Cleaning Services Partner of LW Theatres

LW Theatres is home to six of the West End's most storied houses. Excell is the exclusive cleaning provider across all of them, a relationship that began on Drury Lane in 1994 and was formalised in 2021.

  • The Grand Saloon at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with marble columns and a crystal chandelier

    Theatre Royal Drury Lane

    Catherine Street

  • The columned facade of The London Palladium

    The London Palladium

    Argyll Street

  • The ornate stone facade of His Majesty's Theatre

    His Majesty's Theatre

    Haymarket

  • Rows of velvet seats in the Adelphi Theatre auditorium

    Adelphi Theatre

    Strand

  • The Cambridge Theatre auditorium seen from the stage

    Cambridge Theatre

    Seven Dials

  • The Gillian Lynne Theatre auditorium

    Gillian Lynne Theatre

    Drury Lane

Venue photography courtesy of LW Theatres.

How we care for theatres

Act One · Where we work

At home in London's most demanding venues

Some buildings forgive mistakes. Ours don't. We specialise in venues where the fabric is irreplaceable, the footfall is relentless and the protocols are non-negotiable.

“The building looked great, and we had a lot of really good comments on how well the theatre looked.”

House Manager, Shaftesbury Theatre

Act Two · How we work

From the first walk-round to every night after

A cleaning contract is only as good as the way it is run. This is what you get, and who is accountable for it.

  1. We walk the building

    Front of house to back of house, with whoever looks after it. We ask for your performance or events calendar, because the calendar is the contract. No charge, no obligation.

  2. A specification and quotation

    A written specification built around your building: method statements for sensitive surfaces, frequencies tied to your calendar, and a quotation that shows what drives the price.

  3. Mobilisation

    We plan the start date with you. Teams are vetted to the level your venue requires and briefed on your house rules before their first shift.

  4. Running the contract

    A named supervisor owns your site and walks it with your team. Senior people still walk the buildings, and you are never more than one person away from the people who run Excell.

A word backstage

We schedule around the show. Never the other way round.

You shouldn't have to translate your world for your cleaning contractor. We already speak it.

Dark days

The deep-clean window. When the house goes dark, we go in: auditorium details, high-level work, the jobs that can’t happen mid-run.

Matinee turnarounds

Two houses, one afternoon. Front of house reset, washrooms restocked, auditorium swept, before the evening doors open.

Get-ins & get-outs

Production changeovers leave their mark. We work alongside crews to hand the building back to its public, fast.

Press nights

The one night nothing can be merely fine. Extra eyes, extra hands, and a building polished for the people who write about it.

Act Three · The Excell standard

Care, taken to the level of craft

There is no standard spec sheet at Excell, because there is no standard venue. Every contract begins with your building, and a method built around it.

  • Gilded plasterwork on a theatre box Gilt
  • Velvet auditorium seats Velvet
  • A polished marble column Marble
  • Brass light fittings and a chandelier above a box office Brass

  1. Vetted, trained, long-serving teams

    Our people stay, so your building is cared for by hands that know it. Vetting to the level your venue requires.

  2. A method statement for every surface

    Documented, agreed and trained before we start, so the right product meets the right surface every night.

  3. Gilt, velvet, marble and brass

    Dry, tested methods for gilt and plaster. Fabric-appropriate care for seats and drapes. Neutral cleaning and burnishing cycles for stone and metal. Never abrasives, never shortcuts.

  4. A name, not a call centre

    A named supervisor on your contract and senior people who still walk the buildings. When you call, someone who knows your venue answers.

  5. Straight to the top, fast

    You are never more than one person away from the people who run Excell. When a storm floods the foyer, you get a local team on site, not a ticket in a queue.

  6. We advise, not just clean

    Which product suits a century-old marble floor? How will a finish wear? We will tell you. We have advised on West End refurbishments, not just cleaned up after them.

Encore · Our story

Founded on one stage. Built on thousands of curtain-ups.

Excell began in 1994 with a single contract: a theatre on Drury Lane. Cousins Kevin O'Sullivan and Michael Archbold gave the family trade a company name. Kevin's father had cleaned London's theatres a generation before.

Three decades on, that is still the whole business. We never became a generalist. We became the firm theatreland calls when the building itself is part of the show: gilded plasterwork, velvet seats, marble stairs, brass rails, and a thousand guests arriving in three hours.

“We learned this trade in buildings where you can't cut corners, because the corners are gilded and a hundred years old. That level of care never left us.”

Kevin O'Sullivan · Co-founder
A statue lit by two lamps above the bar at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The ghost light burns when everyone else has gone home. That's usually when our work begins.
  1. 1994

    One theatre on Drury Lane

    Kevin and Michael found Excell with a single West End contract and a standard set by the building itself.

  2. 2000s

    Theatreland by word of mouth

    One stage becomes many. House managers recommend us to house managers.

  3. 2021

    Official partner of LW Theatres

    The Drury Lane relationship is formalised. Excell becomes the exclusive cleaning provider across the group's West End theatres.

    LW Theatres
  4. 2026

    Part of EverGrowth Group

    Excell joins EverGrowth Group, a UK group bringing together specialist B2B essential services businesses.

Three decades behind the scenes of London's greatest stages.

Questions from the stalls

Asked before the house lights dim

Which parts of London do you cover?

All of Greater London, with our heartland in the West End and central London: theatreland, Covent Garden, Soho, Westminster and the South Bank. We also take on venues across the wider South East where the building warrants it.

What kinds of buildings do you clean?

Theatres and concert halls, boutique cinemas, museums and galleries, visitor attractions, and listed or landmark buildings: anywhere with irreplaceable fabric, high footfall and protocols that don’t forgive shortcuts.

Do you work around performance and opening schedules?

Always. Matinee turnarounds, dark days, get-ins and get-outs, and opening hours: we schedule around your building’s rhythm, never our own shift patterns.

Are your teams vetted?

Yes. Every team member is vetted to the level your venue requires, including enhanced checks where safeguarding applies, and briefed on your house rules before their first shift.

What does the free site visit involve?

We walk your venue with you, front of house to back of house, then prepare a bespoke quotation built around your building, your schedule and your standards. No charge, no obligation.

Do you pay the London Living Wage?

Yes. Stable, fairly paid teams stay longer, and your building is cared for by people who know it.

How is the price worked out?

From your building, not a rate card. The quotation reflects the cleaning hours your venue needs, your opening and performance schedule, footfall, the surfaces that need specialist care, and any periodic or deep-clean work. That is why we walk the building before we price it.

We’re thinking of changing provider. What happens to our current cleaners?

Where TUPE applies, your current team transfers to Excell with their terms protected, and they are briefed on your house rules before their first shift with us. Experienced people who already know your building are an asset, and keeping them steady is part of why our standards hold.

Curtain call

Walk your venue with us

We'd rather see your building than send a price list. We'll walk it with you, front of house to fly floor, then prepare a bespoke quotation built around your venue, your schedule and your standards. No charge, no obligation, no hard sell.

LW Theatres Official Cleaning Services
Partner of LW Theatres

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Not ready to talk? Free guide

The Venue Care Standard

Our short, practical guide to caring for heritage and complex venues: gilded surfaces, velvet, marble, brass, the rooms the public never sees, and a checklist for your next cleaning tender. Written by the team that cleans them every night.

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