Aber Proprete

What Aber Proprete does

Aber Proprete is a family-owned French professional cleaning and hygiene services company headquartered in Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande (near Rennes), founded in 1975 in Brittany. The firm employs more than 4,000 staff across 38 regional agencies spanning Bretagne, Pays-de-la-Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Normandie, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Occitanie, and Centre-Val de Loire. Services span six vertical segments: Distribution (retail), Industry including agri-food, Collective Housing, ERP (public reception venues), Healthcare, and Tertiary (offices/commercial), delivered under recurring service contracts with quote-based pricing and flexible scheduling.

The underlying capability is a localized labor-based operating model rather than a technology product. Service lines comprise three categories — Propreté (general cleaning), Nettoyage spécifique (specialized cleaning including bionettoyage and disinfection), and Confort (complementary comfort services) — supplemented by an in-house Qualiopi-certified training center (ABER Formation) and a client portal (Ceos) for contract management. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales through agency-based commercial teams, with online quote requests, local prospecting, and event participation supporting new client acquisition. No proprietary software platform, AI/ML capability, or technology-led differentiation is documented; competitive positioning rests on geographic density, brand heritage, employer reputation (Capital magazine top employer 2022 and 2023), and ESG credentials (EcoVadis silver medal, UN Global Compact member).

Revenue is generated through subscription/recurring service contracts billed on a pay-as-you-go cadence within negotiated frameworks, with hourly labor inputs (cleaning agents around 12.52 EUR/hour, team leaders 14.33–14.50 EUR/hour per job postings) as the primary cost and pricing driver. The company is privately held with 800,000 EUR capital under President Sophie Gadonneix, founder Dominique Gadonneix, and remains independent with no disclosed parent, subsidiaries, or external funding.

Name

Aber Proprete

Legal name

ABER

Website

https://aberproprete.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Aber Proprete is a family-owned French cleaning and hygiene services company founded in 1975, employing 4,000+ staff across 38 regional agencies that deliver recurring cleaning contracts to retail, industrial, healthcare, housing, public, and office clients throughout France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Cleaning Services

NAICS

Janitorial Services (561720)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

General Commercial Janitorial (Recurring Contract Cleaning) (BPABABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disinfection, Sanitization & Infection Prevention Services (BPABABAE), Restroom Hygiene & Consumables Services (Supplies, Dispensers, Matting) (BPABABAI)

Keywords

• Professional cleaning services
• Commercial janitorial services
• Facility hygiene services
• Specialized disinfection services
• Contract cleaning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-jacques-de-la-lande

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices40 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional cleaning services: Recurring cleaning and hygiene services contracted to businesses, industries, healthcare facilities, collective housing, and public buildings. Revenue is generated through service contracts, typically billed recurring.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aber Proprete delivers recurring professional cleaning and hygiene services to businesses, industries, healthcare facilities, collective housing, and public buildings across France. Its offering is organized into three service lines: Propreté (general cleaning), Nettoyage spécifique (specialized cleaning including bionettoyage and disinfection), and Confort (complementary services). Services are delivered by trained staff on flexible schedules through a network of 38 regional agencies operating with local autonomy under the ABER Propreté brand.

Product overview

Aber Proprete is a family-owned French cleaning services company operating as a unified service offering rather than a software platform. The company provides three main service lines: Propreté (general cleaning), Nettoyage spécifique (specialized cleaning), and Confort (comfort services). They serve multiple sectors including Distribution (retail), Industrie (industrial), Habitat collectif (collective housing), ERP (public reception venues), Santé (healthcare), and Tertiaire (commercial). The company operates through a network of 38 agencies across France and offers an internal training center called ABER Formation certified Qualiopi. A client portal called Ceos is available for customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Propreté (General Cleaning Services) Core professional cleaning services for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities, including regular maintenance, janitorial work, window washing, exterior circulation cleaning, floor care and renovation, and sanitary consumables supply. Delivered by trained staff on flexible schedules (early morning, daytime, evening).
• Nettoyage spécifique (Specialized Cleaning) Specialized cleaning services including bionettoyage (bio-cleaning), disinfection protocols, sanitary cleaning for healthcare and medico-social facilities, food-safety compliant cleaning for agri-food industry, event cleaning, and post-construction or post-damage restoration cleaning. Targeted at sectors requiring industry-specific hygiene standards.
• Confort (Comfort Services) Additional comfort-related services that complement core cleaning offerings for client premises, including supplementary facility upkeep and amenities management.

Quantifiable outcome

• Top 6% of cleaning sector companies in EcoVadis RSE ranking (silver medal)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UN Global CompactcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2021Aber Propreté is a member of the UN Global Compact, adhering to 10 principles in human rights, labor law, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. The company renews its membership annually and supports the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
• EcoVadiscoreOthersEcoVadis assesses Aber Propreté's Corporate Social Responsibility performance annually. The company achieved a silver medal in 2020 and improved its score by 11 points in 2023, ranking in the top 6% of companies in the cleaning sector.
• Le Bon CoinminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAber Propreté partnered with Le Bon Coin for recruitment advertising; the company's HR Director appeared on RTL in the 'Fidèle au Poste' segment on Le Bon Coin's RTL channel to discuss recruitment.
• BBH (Brest Bretagne Handball)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerAber Propreté sponsors the BBH (Brest Bretagne Handball) women's handball team as part of its local community engagement and brand visibility strategy.
• Croix Rouge (French Red Cross)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerAber Propreté organized a toy collection in partnership with the French Red Cross in November 2021.
• CAP EMPLOI 29 / ACTIFE Quimper / Mission Locale Pays de CornouailleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAber Propreté Quimper agency partnered with CAP EMPLOI 29, ACTIFE Quimper, and Mission Locale for a job fair/open house event to promote employment in the cleaning sector.
• OVHminorOthersAber Propreté's website is hosted by OVH, a French cloud hosting provider.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sodexo: Global facility management and food services giant with material presence in French commercial cleaning and integrated facility services. Competes in the same client base but operates as a broad incumbent with much wider service portfolio than Aber.
• Elior Group: French-listed food services and facility services group with cleaning and hygiene offerings through its multiservice and facility brands. Adjacent competitor with much broader portfolio and public-market capital access.
• ISS A/S: Global workplace experience and facility services provider with significant French operations in cleaning, workplace, and integrated facility services. Competes for enterprise and public-sector cleaning contracts but specializes less in regional SMB market than Aber.

Direct peers

• Groupe Atalian: Major European facility services group with strong French operations in cleaning, hygiene, and maintenance. Competes head-to-head with Aber for enterprise and multi-site cleaning contracts, but at significantly greater scale and geographic reach.
• Onet: Leading French family-owned facility services and cleaning company with national coverage across commercial cleaning, security, and multiservice. Direct competitor to Aber Proprete in commercial janitorial contracts across France, though materially larger and broader in scope.
• Challancin: French independent cleaning services company with comparable size, regional roots, and enterprise/industry client base. Directly competes with Aber in recurring janitorial and specialized cleaning, particularly in industrial and healthcare segments.
• Hénéo: French facility services and cleaning company with comparable mid-size positioning, offering recurring commercial cleaning, specialized disinfection, and multisite services. Closest size and regional competitor to Aber Proprete.
• Samsic: French family-owned facility services group offering cleaning, security, and maintenance. Directly comparable in ownership profile and core cleaning services, though much larger with multi-country presence.
• Nicollin: French family-owned cleaning and environmental services company with comparable regional density, employee base scale, and recurring contract model. Closely comparable peer in ownership culture, vertical coverage, and customer base.
• Cleanhouse: French cleaning services company focused on commercial and industrial cleaning with similar mid-market positioning and recurring contract model. Comparable peer in scope and competitive intensity within French regional markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aber Proprete