Franchise Focus
Trevor Dixon and Stuart Finlay
Bonita Wood, Martin Wood and Simon Belcher
Jas Singh
“In retailing, every day brings new challenges and we could not do things as successfully on our own.” Stuart and Trevor’s success is
again, CeX helped me with this process. I had hundreds of job applications and we ran an open day from which we appointed staff and planned their training. “It’s been busy setting the business
up, but I’m aware that you get out what you put in, I’m looking forward to running a very profitable business that allows me some flexibility too. My goal is to have a chain of my own CeX stores.”
Imran Ghafoor: A perfect fit Keen to run his own business,
Imran Ghafoor began a search for an opportunity to combine his managerial experience in the corporate world with his desire for freedom and flexibility – and that would be a lucrative investment. He came across CeX, and, swayed by the bustling stores he visited and the success story of an old university friend who owns three CeX outlets, he bought his first franchise in Gateshead earlier this year. CeX guided Imran through the whole
process. They assessed his finances and put together a detailed business plan, based on cost and turnover projections from existing similar stores, to approach the banks with. “I had prompt and
20 |
Businessfranchise.com | September 2013
competitive finance offers from a number of establishments I spoke to,” he exclaims. “I even had to turn some of them away!” He continues: “The training and
support from CeX has been wonderful and very helpful; I’ve been given lots of responsibility and have learned a huge amount. I can ask questions at any point and have numerous avenues of expertise and experience to draw from.” Imran recently recruited a new team of
staff, and now looks forward to spending more time with his family.
Stuart Dixon and Trevor Finlay: Rising success Stuart Dixon and Trevor Finlay have
been CeX franchisees for almost five years and own three CeX stores in Northern Ireland. Where Trevor brings experience from running a number of retail businesses, Stuart brings knowledge of the brand from his previous role as a CeX store manager. Although they are now well established,
they still receive ongoing operational support from their local operations manager. This is invaluable in ensuring the business continues to grow, they maintain:
perhaps more remarkable considering the strained economic situation in Northern Ireland. Commenting on the challenges of the market, Stuart explains: “The decline in cross-border
trade from the Irish Republic has had a detrimental effect on many retailers in recent times. Regardless of the uncertainty, however, CeX’s model continues to be successful, and they are now growing in Ireland too, which can only help things further in the future.”
Indeed, CeX won the ‘Best Newcomer International Franchise’ in 2012 at the Irish Franchise Awards, and are working towards opening 20 new stores across Ireland in the next three to five years. The pair is confident in the strength of
the franchise, and they are not ruling out the possibility of opening another store. With many multi-unit franchisees already, it appears that CeX is winning people over time and time again. n
CEX
WEBSITE:
uk.webuy.com/franchising EMAIL:
uk.franchisingteam@
webuy.com CLASSIFICATION: Retail
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116