Bosses at a specialist cleaning firm said yesterday they had secured the jobs of 45 people after buying two Norfolk firms.

Essex-based Monthind has taken over the commercial cleaning contracts of Stulee Cleaning Limited and Dereham General Cleaning, which have been operating since 2009.

The move follows a change in direction towards domestic cleaning and the development of a brand new café from previous owners Stuart Ford and Lee James who sold their commercial cleaning businesses to Monthind, which also have a Norfolk-based office in Horsham St Faith.

Tony Clarke, Monthind managing director said: 'Though this acquisition saw 45 members of staff transferring to Monthind under TUPE regulations, our experience with taking on contracts of this size meant that the whole process was virtually seamless and both our new staff and clients can be assured of business as usual.'

The new commercial cleaning contracts have been added to the portfolio of clients run from Monthind's Norwich office. The company already offers a diverse range of services, from public sector and forensic cleaning to pest control and waste management, and business manager Chris Brown, said the additional revenue and clients were excellent complements to its growing operations in Norfolk.

'The office cleaning contracts predominantly cater for areas west of Norwich, where we are seeing significant growth,' he said. 'While the second represents further expansion in to high street window cleaning. We already produce and maintain our own pure water supply from our Norwich depot, so expanding our residue-free window cleaning services in Norfolk is a great new development for Monthind, which really complements our current contracts in the area.'

Set up in 1975, Monthind, which in 2010 took over Horsham St Faith rival Sanitec Cleaning Services now employs about 950 people.