FRANCHISEFOCUS INVESTMENT: FROM £28,22 5 Positive outlook
There are still reasons to celebrate with Minster Cleaning
D
amon Brown is celebrating his five- year anniversary as the owner of Minster Cleaning’s Bristol franchise in style. Not only is he continuing to grow the business in uncertain economic
times, he’s been nominated as a finalist in the transformation category of the bfa HSBC British Franchise Awards. What does he put his success down to? Perhaps
surprisingly, his background in banking. “Finance is a very process-driven industry and I realised I could bring some of that thinking to Minster,” he says. When he took on the franchise after a career
at Lloyds Banking Group, he set about creating customer journeys for every aspect of their service. This has made them more efficient as a business, created a better experience for clients and impressed the bfa judges.
"Damon is optimistic about the future and the opportunities it holds, saying: 'We have doubled in the past four to five years and currently have a turnover of just under £1.1million. I want to double again in the same time frame'"
Pip Wilkins, chief executive of the bfa, says:
“Damon has really modernised the business and worked on engaging with the customers. Once the groundwork was in place, he had key objectives to ensure the business would function better, which in turn led to better inspection scores.” His work has also boosted the bottom line. “Our
margins have improved by 20 per cent because customers are happy to pay more for a better service. It’s also helped us engage with larger, more complex businesses – when I bought the franchise our largest customer invoice was £20,000 a year,
54
now we have four that are more than £80,000 a year.” Clearly 2020 has been more challenging than
most. But the advantage of commercial cleaning is it is an essential business with multi-sector appeal, which helps protect franchisees from economic peaks and troughs. That is particularly the case during the Covid-19 pandemic when hygiene has become central to the fightback against the virus. “We’ve taken on lots of business over the summer because we have been clear about our risk assessments and what infection control we can provide. If someone tests positive for the virus we can go straight into a workplace and carry out the necessary cleaning and sterilisation,” says Damon. He is optimistic about the future too and believes
the current disruption will lead to opportunities. “We have doubled in the past four to five years and currently have a turnover of just under £1.1million. I want to double again in the same time frame.” Damon has put the business in a great position
to do this. He also benefits from the size of Minster’s territories which give enterprising franchisees huge scope for expansion. By securing contracts from just a small fraction of the market in your area, you can grow quickly. Working with Minster Cleaning, the UK’s leading
commercial cleaning management franchise, also gives you the reassuring backing of an experienced and reliable company. Established in 1982, it’s been a bfa Full Member since 1992 and has branches across the UK. Half of Minster franchisees have built up businesses with sales of more than £1million and the top branches achieve annual turnover in excess of £2million. In total the group has more than 5,000 employees and yearly revenues of over £40million. Training and support is also crucial. Franchisees
making the sometimes daunting transition from employment to self-employment are given ongoing support with operational management, administration, bookkeeping, marketing and IT. Not to mention professional advice in complex areas including employment law, health and safety and environmental legislation.
Investment level: £20k-£50k
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
