What do Deliveroo and car washing have in common? For Will Mapstone, Founder and CEO of Wash Doctors, London’s fastest growing on-demand car care company, the answer is everything. He took a post-uni gig delivering food and transformed that insight into a tech-powered, eco-conscious car care service now trusted by over 100,000 customers. In this interview, he shares how he scaled Wash Doctors from London side hustle to national expansion—and why the future of clean cars is mobile, smart, and sustainable.
You’ve described Wash Doctors as the “Deliveroo of car care.” What inspired you to reimagine such a traditional industry with a tech-first mindset?
The idea to launch Wash Doctors came from my experience as a Deliveroo rider after university in 2016. When I was riding around, it was clear there were so many dirty cars on London streets. So that sparked an idea – if I can deliver food, surely I can deliver a car wash. In 2017, I learnt to code and how to wash a car with no water. Fast forward to 2025, we’ve washed over 100,000 cars bringing our hassle-free service to customers’ doors.
You just closed a major funding round. What will this investment enable you to do that wasn’t possible before—and how quickly can we expect expansion?
We’re excited about what this new round of funding will allow us to achieve at Wash Doctors. This investment is a major milestone that will enable us to accelerate our growth in ways that weren’t possible before.
The new funding will pave the way for a nationwide rollout bringing our convenient, eco-friendly vehicle care services to customers all across the UK. We’ve seen strong demand beyond our current service areas, and now we’re in a position to meet it.
Second, we’re expanding our offering to offer more car care services. Our customers are asking for more, and we’re listening. We’ll be introducing services like at-home repairs, mobile mechanics, and other smart vehicle solutions which are all designed to save time, reduce hassle, and raise the bar for convenience.
We’ll be moving quickly but thoughtfully, making sure that as we scale, we continue to deliver the high-quality experience our customers trust us for.
With traditional car washes declining and sustainability rising, how are you positioning Wash Doctors as a solution for both convenience and climate consciousness?
Our mobile car care services come to you, whether you’re at home, work, or anywhere else, so it’s super convenient. But more importantly, we’ve made sustainability a core part of how we operate. We use eco-friendly products, limit water usage to a fraction of what traditional car washes use, and we’re constantly looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint even further.
What’s been the biggest operational challenge in scaling a mobile service like this, and how have you tackled it?
One of the biggest operational challenges in scaling a mobile service like Wash Doctors has been maintaining consistency and quality at scale. When you’re delivering services across different locations, with multiple technicians and variables like traffic, weather, and customer availability, it can be difficult to ensure every customer gets the same high-quality experience.
To tackle this, we’ve invested heavily in our tech infrastructure and training. Our platform now handles real-time scheduling, routing, and customer communication, which helps streamline operations and reduce delays. We’ve also built a robust onboarding and training program for our technicians to ensure they meet the same standards, wherever they’re working.
You’re now exploring mobile mechanics and at-home repairs. How do you decide which services to add to the platform next?
We’re guided first and foremost by our customers. We’re constantly gathering feedback and looking at usage patterns to understand what problems they’re facing and how we can solve them more conveniently.
When it comes to deciding which services to add, we focus on two key things: demand and value. We look for services that our customers are actively asking for – like mobile mechanics or at-home repairs—and then assess whether we can deliver those services in a way that meets our standards for quality, reliability, and ease.
Car care is deeply local and personal. How do you maintain quality and trust while scaling across diverse communities and regions?
The way we keep quality and trust high is simple – we work with the best people. Every Wash Doctors technician is hand-picked not just for their skills, but for their attitude. Most are independent professionals who take real pride in their work. They are the kind of people who treat every car like it’s their own.
What advice would you give to other London-based founders trying to turn everyday services into disruptive, scalable tech platforms?
My advice to London-based founders looking to turn everyday services into scalable tech platforms is simple: start small, move fast, and stay close to your customer.
Build your MVP yourself—don’t wait for funding or a full team. The sooner you can test your idea in the real world, the faster you’ll understand what people actually want, not just what you think they want. Speak to as many potential users as possible and get their feedback constantly.
Focus on getting the product right before chasing investment. A great product solves a real problem—that’s what creates traction, not just having capital.
And finally, stay open to change. You’ll probably need to pivot or adjust your model as you learn. The founders who succeed are the ones who stay flexible and adapt quickly without losing sight of the bigger vision.
