Franchise Focus Limitless
Diane Maxwell released the untapped potential of her Driver Hire franchise
INVESTMENT LEVEL: £35,000
team briefing on the key targets for the day ahead. These will include sales calls to both regular and potential clients. Recruitment is a fast-moving business; it’s all about reacting to customer demands quickly and smartly. It’s about finding the right person for the job, whether that’s for a temporary or permanent position. At Driver Hire it’s round-the-clock. So a 3.00am call from a client desperately seeking a driver is not unusual.
“My area development manager helped me to look at ways of increasing our revenue”
“The support I received from Driver Driver Hire CEO, Chris Chidley, and Diane Maxwell
the culmination of two very exciting years, and could be the springboard for even greater achievements to come. Diane has been running Driver Hire Belfast since 2012. It’s part of a network that is currently celebrating 30 years in business, comprising 100 offices nationwide. The Belfast office originally opened in 2001. As a recruitment business, it mainly provides temporary and permanent drivers and other logistics staff to local and national organisations in both the public and private sector. If a client is short of staff – perhaps because of illness, holidays or seasonal demand – one of Driver Hire’s offices supplies a suitable replacement. Diane, whose background is in transport management, joined Driver Hire Belfast six years ago, initially working for the previous management team. She became their office manager, running the business very successfully. When her employers decided to sell and there was no immediate buyer, Diane became an employee of Driver Hire Trading Ltd and ran the business for them. During this period Diane identified
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hen Diane Maxwell collected ‘The Rose Bowl Award for Endeavour’ at Driver Hire’s winter conference, it was
untapped value within the business and, encouraged by this, she looked into buying the business. With backing from her bankers, she became her own boss. Since then, her rise has been meteoric.
Turnover in 2012/13 – her first full financial year – was £710,000. As Diane heads towards the end of year two, turnover has increased by more than 100 per cent and she’s on track to achieve around £1.4million for the full year. Measured on turnover, her franchise is one of Driver Hire’s top 10 performers. Through a mix of marketing campaigns, Diane has led her sales team to huge success, doubling the number of customers invoiced in the past 10 months.
All of which made her recent award a well-deserved achievement. But what made her move from the somewhat cosier world of employment to that of being her own boss? “In the first instance, I just love the business,” says Diane. “Having run it for someone else, I could see the potential, and the idea of making it mine was an exciting one.”
Diane employs two colleagues – it’s an all-female office. Neither of her recruits had any prior experience in either road transport or recruitment, so it’s been a question of moulding them into a well- drilled office team. As leader, Diane’s responsibilities are multiple. A typical day kicks off with a
Hire in the early days was fantastic,” Diane continues. “Although I knew the business well, there were certain aspects of it that were unfamiliar. My area development manager helped me to look at ways of increasing our revenue with existing and lapsed customers. There was also hands-on support to help me target our sales activity effectively using the various campaigns created by the marketing team, as well as help with aspects of Driver Hire’s internal client management system that I hadn’t used as an employee.”
Of course, this success would not have been possible without a team of loyal drivers – the office’s bread and butter. Diane has worked hard to recruit the right people, keep them busy and look after them.
On average, Driver Hire Belfast finds work for 90 drivers every week. At its peak, the office covered 460 shifts in one week and used 100 drivers. When Diane took over the business, there were no drivers on the books. This transformation is another clear marker of her outstanding success. “Failure was never an option,” says Diane. “When I bought the business it gave me a real rush of nervous excitement and two years down the line I still feel the same. The big difference I’ve noticed is that, as your own boss, you really cherish the successes.” n
DRIVER HIRE
WEBSITE:
www.driverhirefranchise.co.uk EMAIL:
franchise@driverhire.co.uk PHONE: 01274 361 073 CLASSIFICATION: Recruitment
Investment: £20k-£50k
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