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Our franchisor interviews have been designed to give you an insight into specific franchise businesses and how they were started. By interviewing the franchisor, we can arm you with their perspective on areas such as the business itself, why they chose to go down the franchising route, their achievements and challenges, and what they look for in a successful franchisee - vital information for those considering franchising their own business or becoming a franchisee themselves.
My background is in sandwich shops. We’d started out as a premium brand but found our £1 sandwiches and baguets flew off the shelves best and quickly expanded to ten sites, some of which were franchised and some wholly owned. Ultimately, price rises meant it was difficult to sustain the £1 model, so from our production facility we moved into wholesale, supplying schools, colleges and football clubs. However, back in 2012, I read an article that confirmed 1.2 million chicken wings were sold over one weekend during the Superbowl. It was a lightbulb moment.
There isn’t anything Mark Saunders doesn’t know about window tinting, having been a mobile technician for over 10 years himself. He set up UK Auto Pro in 2019. Initially employing technicians, he struggled to reach the levels of service he wanted to provide customers with due to lack of commitment from the technicians. He realised he needed individuals who would be invested in delivering results and always putting the customer first, which led him to go down the franchise route. He employed his first franchisee a year later, and now has 5 covering central England. Mark is looking to expand his business across the UK and looking for likeminded individuals to join UK Auto Pro. Marks tells his story…
Amran Sunner is one of the founders of Wingers – the Chicken Wing company. We spoke to Amran to find out more about how the business came about and this exciting franchise opportunity.
Stephen Hopper is the CEO and Founder of Plan Burrito, the fastest growing multi-award winning Tex-Mex franchise operation in the UK. Plan Burrito opened their first store in 2015 in Loughborough. Due to phenomenal success, Stephen realised there was a huge demand for this type of food and that the only way to achieve national coverage was to franchise. In 2022, the first franchise opened. Plan Burrito is now expanding rapidly but controlled, with plans to expand internationally too by way of master licence agreements.
Kamila Khan is the Founder of Dolce Desserts. Kamila graduated at 21 years old and sought inspiration via the hearty cafes seen in and around the hotspots of Europe. In 2014, Kamila created Dolce Desserts, which embodies the sweet touch of Italy now found in the UK. Kamila has built the brand to 9 stores with plans to have 15 open by the end of the year.
Freddie St George MBE realised very early on that he was not “good employee” material and so since leaving university, he has always been in business for himself. In 2006, he bought Raring2go! franchise, a low cost, mature and proven franchise business that produces a magazine and website that connects local businesses with local families. It was already an existing franchise but Freddie stripped it back and rebuild it so that it was a far more robust, sustainable and profitable franchise business. Outside of work and business, Freddie’s passion is for classic Minis and an annual fundraising motoring event he organises called ‘The Italian Job’, which since 1990, the event has raised over £3 million for children’s charities. Read more about Freddie and the Raring2go! opportunity...
Firoz Hafeji is one three friends who founded Wingtrapp in 2018. They opened their first Wingtrapp store in Leicester. They spent the next 4 years solidifying their concept and setting up the right foundations and infrastructure to allow them to franchise. They now have 3 franchisees in Birmingham, Nottingham and Coventry sites with a number of franchisees in the pipeline set to open over the next 12 months. Their mission is simple, to be recognised as the best Gourmet chicken offering in the UK.
Amrit Dhaliwal, CEO and Founder of Walfinch homecare talks about his background, why entrepreneurialism has always been in his blood (from running his own Italian restaurant to becoming a care franchisee), setting up Walfinch and ultimately franchising it, to the support they offer franchisees and his plans for the growth of Walfinch.
Ty Clarke’s passion for fitness first started from a very young age. “I started training because I suffered a lot with my self-confidence as throughout my adolescent years, I was a lot smaller than most of my contemporaries. I became obsessed with bettering myself which came from having a sporting background. I was often told I was ‘too weak’ or ‘too small’ to play my chosen sport. In 2020, during the Pandemic, I had the opportunity to purchase Paragon Gym and I have not looked back since.”
Chris Rocker is the Founder and CEO of Just Shutters. It was a 25 year career working for fitted furniture companies, that led Chris to start his own shutter business in 2006. Chris built Just Shutters to become a successful and strong regional brand, but it was listening to Duncan Bannatyne talk about franchising that gave him his lightbulb moment. In 2009, Chris launched his Just Shutters franchise. There are now 18 successful businesses across the UK and Just Shutters is now the largest independent retail specialist in the country.
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