Ben Giles, a 49-year-old veteran of extreme cleaning from Cardigan, Wales, has spent a quarter of a century tackling some of the most repulsive messes imaginable. From murder scenes to whale blubber, Giles has built a reputation as Britain's go-to cleaner for the stickiest situations. His company, Ultima, now part of the Atlas conglomerate, handles everything from human waste to industrial spills, often called in when others refuse to touch the job.
Giles's journey began modestly as a window cleaner in his 20s, charging 50p per pane. A client in Aberystwyth asked him to clear a vacated property, where he found a bathtub full of urine and faeces. Quoting £2,000 for the job, he later realised he could have asked for much more. This early experience taught him that repulsive messes command premium prices, as people see their removal as a near-religious service.
In March 2025, Giles's team was called to the Dominion Theatre in London's West End after a person defecated at the entrance and smeared faeces on the doors. With ticket-holders arriving for a performance of The Devil Wears Prada, the distress call went out to Ultima's headquarters. Operators logged the emergency, and cleaners were dispatched with mops and buckets, completing the job within an hour.
Giles's deputy, Mark Baxter, recalled the incident while sitting with Giles outside a bar in Paddington station. The pair had travelled from Carmarthen to meet executives at Atlas, which absorbed Ultima a few years ago. The deal made Giles wealthy, allowing him to buy an Italian restaurant in Cardigan and a herd of Highland cows. Now in partial retirement, Giles serves as Ultima's chief consultant, a professor emeritus of mess.
While the Dominion crisis unfolded, Giles was in his cow field receiving texts from a former trainee dealing with solidified phlegm in a residential property in north-east England. Pictures showed tobacco-coloured spit spread over walls, doors and ceilings. Giles advised on scraping and sanding, drawing on decades of experience that have made him a self-taught stain savant.
