- April 19, 2024
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WINDERMERE — With a love for Central Florida’s theme parks and climate, Gillian and Neil Tennant followed their dream of moving to America from Scotland after convincing themselves the time was proper.
“Separately, my husband and I, as children, grew up in the UK in the early ’80s,” Gillian said. “There wasn’t a lot of money invested in British television — it was all invested in American television. So we grew up watching a lot of American TV shows, and of course, you have the idyllic lifestyle — palm trees, sunshine — and when you live in bleary, dreary Scotland, that seems really appealing.”
The Tennants and their children moved from Dunbar, Scotland — a small fishing village — to a home off Winter Garden-Vineland Road (County Road 535), just outside Windermere, Gillian said.
They selected Central Florida because of a long theme-park vacation in the area — reminiscent of their honeymoon and a three-week trip the subsequent year — after Gillian’s aunt died last March at 60 from cancer, she said.
“That made us re-evaluate life,” she said. “I’ve got an extremely small, very close family, so when one person dies, that’s a huge impact.”
That aunt had worked her whole life to provide for Gillian and her sister, based on having no husband or children, so they were the beneficiaries of the will.
The Tennants had not been on vacation in some time, so they decided to take a trip to their favorite place on Earth — Walt Disney World.
“The Sunday before we were due to go home, we were floating in the Lazy River in Typhoon Lagoon and just chatting,” Gillian said. “It’s extremely difficult to move here from the UK. You have to cut through the red tape. You have these kinds of dreams, but are they going to remain dreams or are they going to become reality?”
When they got home in Scotland, the Tennants began asking around to see whether the move would be feasible. They spent months trying to find jobs and comply with visa requirements, arriving July 10.
“We left the UK with eight suitcases and four cats,” Gillian said. “We had to buy everything for the house. … We literally came with almost nothing, and we have set up home; we’ve set up a business. The business launched (Aug. 31), so we are brand-spanking-new. It came from a dream we both had as a child — it sounds cheesy, but it’s totally true.”
CLEANING HOUSE
To meet requirements for their visas, the Tennants had to operate a business that would provide jobs to Americans, Gillian said.
“I’m a bank manager by trade, and my husband’s a power station manager,” she said. “We had to find a profitable business that would allow us to provide for our family.”
The proprietors of Imperial Maid Service in Texas also had moved from the UK once upon a time, and they had decided to create a business model to help other British families relocate, making the Tennants their first franchisee.
“We had to find something that we could do, and at the end result, we could clean,” Gillian said. “We’re here to manage the business, but we can understand how to train the staff and to do the cleaning to our standards.”
They elected to open an office on South Blossom Trail in Orlando to meet their labor market and access many locales, including Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Ocoee, Gotha and MetroWest, Gillian said. The Tennants hope to be the first of many locations in the area, with a rapid expansion plan of at least a new team every three months, she said.
The business model is attractive in its play on not only the high British standard of cleanliness but also cleaning fit for a king, with all non-toxic products to ensure no child or pet can get ill, Gillian said. Their two employees to date have done an excellent job meeting that royal standard, she said. That theme is a reversal on the tourism that drew the Tennants here.
“In America, people don’t have the royal family, and I think a lot of Americans would like that, because it’s a huge tourist draw in the UK from American citizens,” Gillian said.
Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].
