Gary Rigby: Can you provide us with a brief history of Northwood and how it became a market leader?

Gemma Goodson: Northwood began in Portsmouth in 1995, when we identified a gap in the market for the Guaranteed Rent Service.  As a professional company that places significant importance on customer service, Northwood has expanded to 75 franchise territories and manages in excess of 10,000 properties.

GR: How does Northwood’s Guaranteed Rent Service work?

GG: Our unique rent guarantee ensures the Landlord receives a pre-agreed figure for the year, paid to them monthly regardless of whether the tenant pays the rent or if the property is let or vacant.  The difference between what Northwood guarantees to the Landlord and what the tenant pays is the profit..

GR: Brand uniformity, as illustrated by your high street premises, is obviously paramount to the success of Northwood. Could you explain why it is so important?

GG: Northwood is a people business and in whatever business you run, you need to be credible. Part of the credibility comes from a brand that people recognise and associated with Northwood has a Marketing and Brand Manager who is continually reviewing the brand guideline book to ensure that the brand matches our customers’ expectations..

GR: As a prospective franchise owner would I need to have experience in the housing market sector?

GG: Northwood franchise owners come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the Armed Forces and senior management in large corporations. The right calibre individual needs to have an understanding of business be able to manage people and have a strong desire to succeed. There is no benefit in having experience in the housing sector.

GR: What training do Northwood franchise owners receive?

GG: Northwood’s trainers are actually qualified teachers and deliver all training courses, regionally at the franchise owner’s office and remotely using Northwood’s Virtual Learning Environment. The initial six-week induction is run every month, as well as numerous refresher courses.

Pearson’s EdExcel has recently awarded Northwood EdExcel Centre Status. This enables Northwood to offer BTECHs at levels 2, 3 and 4 in customer service, administration, business management and lettings to franchise owners and their staff. Northwood’s teachers work with franchise owners to ensure that each member of staff in every office has a personal development plan in place.

GR: I understand you have a comprehensive support service for franchise owners, can you explain more?

GG: After the initial training, our franchise owners benefit from support at various levels all by trained and dedicated staff.  The support can be provided remotely, whereby our technicians can connect remotely to the franchise owners’ computers so they can receive training and support.  In addition there is the field support and telephone support.  An open forum on the internet complements all this so franchise owners can share best practice.  The intranet also enables franchise owners to view help videos, workflows, the training manual and frequently asked questions.  There are also six regional meetings held twice a year.

GR: Is there a bespoke IT software system?

GG: Northwood has a bespoke IT software system called Northwood Business Solution (NBS). This software streamlines the process for both Estate Agency and Lettings and allows franchise owners – if they wish – to run a paperless office. NBS also interfaces with the other IT packages – Safe for franchise owners to produce their accounts, Northwood’s bespoke Landlord Management System, and a group data centralisation tool, which enables Northwood to look at regional and market trends.

Gary Rigby: What was the inspiration and origins of the Dream Doors Franchise?

Troy Tappenden: I was unhappy with my current situation and wanted something new. I had been thinking about Franchising for a while but needed to find a sector which excited me and, wanting to be my own boss, like many Franchise Owners. I went to a Franchise Exhibition and this inspired me to look at possibly franchising my business in the future; one day when reading a national newspaper Business Opportunity page and advert for kitchen refurbishment company inspired me to look at this further. I had no previous experience in this sector but on researching the opportunity further, I could see the potential within the market, and that’s when quality replacement doors as opposed to replacing the whole carcass gave me the idea.

GR: How long have Dream Doors been Franchising and what sort of coverage of the UK do you have?

TT: Dream Doors is in its 10th year of franchising, running the first three years as a private company fine tuning all aspects of operational, sales and marketing initiatives in readiness for Franchising. Coverage of UK stretches from the Scottish Borders (we are looking for Scottish Franchise Owners), to the Channel Islands, then down to Exeter and over to Norwich, across to Tunbridge Wells and Cardiff We are also looking for Franchise owners in the Midlands at this stage to compliment our national coverage.

GR: Is there a particular profile of Franchise Owner that you are looking for?

TT: Ideally we are looking for white collar management with a good sales background; they need to be determined, focussed and possess the desire to succeed. The possession of good management and organisational skills, people skills, computer literate and able to manage a team as the business develops. .

GR: Supporting the Franchise Owners is an essential part of the support services; how do Dream Doors and its Management Team achieve this?

TT: There are 3 national managers to provide in territory support, we have an online marketing manager generating additional leads. We are also on all social network websites and run best practice training, external sales training, plus supplier training days. We use an external marketing company to provide professional before and after photography. Other marketing activities include mailshots, intranet system etc…

GR: Can you explain how you research your territories in terms of demographics of the catchment area?

TT: They have territory exclusive postcodes on average 250,000 – 400,000 population, with minimum over 100,000 population over 45 yrs of age. Over the many years we have proven the ideal geographical areas through demographic profiling.

GR: What sort of capital do I need to purchase a Dream Doors Franchise?

TT: Approx. £70k to include franchise package fee. We have two options as a Franchise Model one that operates from an independent showroom and the second from Garden Centres

GR: I presume that marketing plays a major part in your success, how is this relationship managed between the Franchisor and the Franchise Owner?

TT: The Franchise Owner is responsible for their local marketing and they are required to spend a specified amount each month. As a Franchisor we spend a defined amount each year on National Marketing which comes from a contribution from the Franchise network. The marketing spend is agreed with our Franchise Owners to maximise the returns to the network as a whole.

GR: I understand that you’ve gained considerable experience with regards to the operational model and commercial premises, can you explain more?

TT: We initially started the business working from home but we could clearly demonstrate that working from a dedicated Showroom quadrupled turnover and more importantly gave credibility in relation to the customer. Again, the Franchise Owner is buying into our experience of many years and as a result avoids the pitfalls of starting their own business.

GR: Recognition and motivation of the Franchising Network seems to play a major part in your success, how is this achieved?

TT: As a company that continuously develops its business and researches its market, we have a Management Services Scheme that truly embraces and win win philosophy, this has worked particularly well for Dream Doors over the years and has rewarded those Franchise Owners who have been highly successful and encouraged others to achieve their ambitions.

GR: What are your objectives for the next five years?

TT: Currently we have 45 showrooms across the UK and we are looking to expand the Dream Doors network over the next few years. Ultimately we are looking at achieving network coverage of some 100 Franchisees.

Gary Rigby: Could you provide us with a brief history of Snack in the Box?

Blair Jenkins: We started franchising in 1996 after a successful ‘self-service box’ pilot was run in the Hampshire area, where we focused on providing ‘snacks to the work place’ service. The business developed rapidly, and within the first two years of launching SITB, we had more than 40 franchise owners throughout the UK.

In 2009, SITB was bought by SnackTime, which resulted in it becoming the third biggest vending company in the UK, with in excess of 33,000 customers nationwide.

The support and back up we receive from SnackTime has enabled us to work closely with our franchise owners to offer first class operational, marketing and sales support. SITB now has close to 100 franchised territories across the whole of the UK.

GR: I suppose the Mars Brand creates interest in the Franchise Opportunity, can you tell me how this affects the Franchise Owners?

BJ: Our partnership with Mars enables the franchise owners to use the Mars branding across their business. This includes using the logo on their van, on sales and marketing materials and on vending machines. In addition, Mars confectionery manufactures nine out of the top 10 chocolate bars, which enables our franchise owners to stock all the UK’s favourite chocolate bars at preferential prices.

GR: From your experience, what would you say is the ideal franchise owner profile?

BJ: Our existing franchise owners really do come from all types of backgrounds (from both white and blue collar). That’s one of the benefits of SITB being so easy to run and having a simple business concept. However, to maximise the opportunity they are given, franchise owners need to be hardworking, have a cheerful disposition and be customer focussed at all times. We then put a business plan into place with them and work together for our mutual benefit.

GR: You provide 75% of the initial contacts for your franchise owners, can you explain more?

BJ: When a franchise owner starts trading, we have already sited 75 per cent of their customer territory. This means the franchise owner has a territory of customers with vending machines already installed, running and earning them money. This is a huge advantage in that the franchise owner is able to earn a regular income immediately and not to spend the first few months building their business from scratch with no income coming in. This also gives the franchise owner a bit of breathing space to enable them to concentrate on growing and developing their business knowing they already have an initial income coming in.

GR: I understand there are a number of opportunities to expand and grow the business. Could you explain more?

BJ: The market potential for our franchise owners is massive. As there are so many small to medium sized businesses in the UK, it ensures the continued development of the SITB territories. The varied range of vending equipment allows franchise owners to offer and provide customers with a service, no matter how big or small they are. SITB further supports franchise owners in the area of business development by providing new business via the large number of National Accounts we have and new enquiries received through our website. We can also provide franchise owners with sales and marketing support via a number of different mediums, such as business data, mailshot campaigns and sale agents.