Sign Maker Profile
To franchise or not to franchise? That is the question
FASTSIGNS UK celebrated 30 years of rolling out its franchise model at the beginning of the summer. Managing editor, Melanie Attlesey, caught up with UK managing director, John Davies, to find out more about franchising in the signage world.
Y
ou’ve got the skills. You’ve got the knowledge. But you’ve got the fear of going it alone and opening up your own sign making business.
That’s where purchasing a franchise comes into its own. You are able to tap into the support, advice and expertise from a wider network of business owners, all while owning and running your own business.
It’s franchising where FASTSIGNS excels. FASTSIGNS was founded in the US in 1985 by Gary Salomon and Bob Schanbaum as a way to bring high-quality, fast signage solutions to market. After experiencing a surge in demand, FASTSIGNS began to franchise the concept a year later in the US. Expansion to the UK followed in 1995, with FASTSIGNS becoming one of the first companies to bring the business model to UK shores. The explosion of digital printing technology in the late 80s and early 90s enabled FASTSIGNS to grow and expand rapidly.
Now FASTSIGNS has extended its reach across the globe and operates from more than 790 locations in nine countries, with 23 of those locations here in the UK.
A franchise success
John’s background lies in franchising and making a success of it. Prior to becoming the MD at FASTSIGNS UK in 2015, he headed up a retail franchise business model. 12-and-half years later, he had grown the network to 175 outlets, 47 of which were franchise businesses and he personally owned two of them.
Owning a franchise business isn’t for everyone, but it certainly has its perks, as John explains: “In the UK, we get support from the US – it’s not really seen as a separate business. The US market is about five years ahead of the
| 46 | September/October 2025
John Davies, managing director of FASTSIGNS UK (left), pictured with various team members from FASTSIGNS UK and Propelled Brands (FASTSIGNS parent company)
UK in terms of products, services and new technology, this gives business owners a competitive advantage.” Each year, a delegation of UK franchisees are flown over to the States to attend the International FASTSIGNS Convention, where they can attend educational sessions and network with their American and global counterparts. This presents a fantastic opportunity for those involved to see the latest trends taking place over the pond. FASTSIGNS UK holds its own conference, which is due to take place in November – again a fantastic opportunity for franchisees. Support is offered in areas such as accounting, legal, marketing, human resources, showroom layout and everything in between. UK franchisees are encouraged to join various WhatsApp groups or post on monitored forums, to share ideas and product innovations with fellow business owners, to help spread knowledge among the network. FASTSIGNS UK also hosts a monthly ‘Power Hour’ video conference, where
franchisees can all get together and chat.
“These sessions are entirely optional to attend,” explains John. “But we find that 75% of the network regularly do. They set the agenda and discuss what they want to discuss. It’s definitely a two-way relationship – we find that some of our best ideas come from our network.” It’s this high level of support and community that has seen the FASTSIGNS UK network grow during the last three decades, and even flourish under John’s leadership. The first branch opened in New Malden in June 1995, which was quickly followed by Leeds, Guildford and Sheffield all opening their doors later the same year. During John’s 10 years at the helm, the network has grown from 12 outlets to 23. “During the last 10 years at least half of those 23 businesses have been sold on to new owners, due to the previous owner retiring. This is really exciting as you get to bring new blood into the network,” explains John.
www.signupdate.co.uk
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