FAMILY has always come first for businesswoman Sam Acton, so it’s no surprise that her staff and clients have become part of her extended family too.

Every year she hosts an annual party for all her employees and their families at her Southbourne home.

“It is so important to look after your staff and I like to get them all together so everyone can get to know each other.”

Sam also prides herself on offering flexible working hours – one of the reasons she was a finalist in this year’s Venus Awards for Employer of the Year and won Best Home-Based business.

“The Venus Awards made such a massive difference to me,” she says. “I actually believe I am a businesswoman now.”

The catalyst for Sam’s home-based business Domestic Angels is a familiar story of a working mother struggling to find a good work-life balance.

When her son Jack was born 12 years ago, she had to return to her full-time job in the financial services industry within six months.

“My first priority was to be a good mum, but it was impossible. I went back to work in August and by December I was nearly on my knees, so I took the first available opportunity in the New Year for redundancy. The problem was that I had no idea what I was going to do next.”

It was a favour for a friend that gave her the basis for her business Domestic Angels.

“One of my friends is a successful businesswoman and she wanted me to help her find a good, reliable cleaner.

“In April 2002 – I placed an ad for my first domestic angel and a few hours later I got my first phone call and that lady stayed with me for six years.”

Now Sam has a team of 16 that takes care of everything from weekly cleans to spring cleans, ironing and other domestic chores for clients from Highcliffe to Hamworthy.

“I didn’t have a business plan,” she says. “I learned everything from scratch and spent the first five years learning as I went along. But at least now when it comes to delegating certain elements of the business, I know what I am talking about as I’ve done it all myself.”

As for the future, Sam hopes to be able to continue to expand her business and is currently looking to recruit four more of her “angels”.

“All our cleaners are carefully chosen to be as spotless as the homes we clean. I now have two team leaders who take care of much of the day-to-day running of the business which means I can focus on longer-term projects.

“There’s so much work for us to do – we don’t need to diversify – we just need to carry on doing what we do best.”