Recognition indeed
THREE SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISEES EXPLAIN WHY THEY INVESTED IN
RECOGNITION EXPRESS, WHICH HAS BEEN PROVIDING PROMOTIONAL
SOLUTIONS TO A LARGE CUSTOMER BASE OF HOUSEHOLD NAMES SINCE 1979.
Franchisee Sally Findlay, who runs
Recognition Express Mid-Surrey, used
to work as a senior project manager for
a large American company. However, when
she was made redundant she decided she
wanted to work for herself.
Says Sally: “The Recognition Express franchise
appealed to me because when I looked at the
skills they required they matched my own and the
day-to-day running of the franchise matched my
strengths. In addition to two weeks of initial
training prior to launching my Surrey-based
franchise in April 2004, I have benefited from
ongoing training. As well as this, I have loads of
support - everything I could ask for and more.
“One of the major benefits of this franchise is
the brilliant network of other franchisees, who are
all very professional and helpful. As well as this, I
get a huge amount of satisfaction when a
customer comes back and lets me know I’ve done
a great job - that it has been done on time and is
exactly what the customer required.
“My last turnover was £200,000 and I
currently have three full-time staff and five-eight
temporary staff. I have just moved into a new,
bigger office as we needed more space. However,
my main aim is to continue to develop the
relationship with my clients.”.
INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
Jonny Masters, who owns the Recognition Express
Leicester West franchise previously worked at
Recognition Express’s head office and so had a
very good idea of how the business operates. He
says: “The opportunity arose for a colleague and
myself to invest in the business by buying our
own franchise - we knew the benefits of the
business, so we went for it. We experienced great
success with the business and went through a
rapid rate of development. After a series of
discussions, it was decided that to take full
advantage of the opportunity we should go it
alone. I soon invested in my own Recognition
Express franchise and haven’t looked back since.
“I was given additional training to prepare me
for running a business on my own and the
support continued to be of a very high
standard. Even though I had plenty of experience
in the business, I still had to apply myself.
There was twice as much work for me to do, but I
had a good understanding of how best to
manage this. The business has been growing
steadily and I’ve now reached a point where I’m
experiencing comparable success to what we had
before. Working completely on my own is also
incredibly satisfying - my hard work is definitely
being rewarded.
“Recognition Express go to great lengths to aid
their franchisees, which has included the
redevelopment of their ‘extranet’ system. It’s available online and helps with the details of sales
and suppliers, therefore making the franchisee’s
job easier.
“Building up two businesses in a couple of
years has taken a lot of determination and I’ve
had to be totally focussed. My new business has
had a successful first year - I’ve secured many new
clients and I expect turnover to double this year. It
goes to show that a Recognition Express franchise
will be a success, so long as you have the
motivation to make it work.”.
NEW CHALLENGE
Keith Walker is Recognition Express’ North
Staffordshire franchisee. The opportunity to start
his own business arose when he retired from his
position with Staffordshire Police as a superintendent
after 30 years’ service. He explains: “My
retirement coincided with my youngest son Rob’s
search for a new job. We were both looking for a
new challenge so we decided to set up a
business together.
“We chose Recognition Express because of its
excellent reputation, extensive range of products
and credibility. We also felt the concept was
recession-proof and so would be a safe
investment. We believed a franchise would
provide us with guidance, support and a proven
concept that we needed to launch our own
business - we have not been disappointed. The
flexibility of this franchise has enabled us to take
control of our destinies.
“Recognition Express prepares its
franchisees with an initial training course that
covers all aspects of running the business.
This training, coupled with the help of a solid,
close-knit support network, has been very
reassuring. We do not feel completely on our
own and if we have any problems all we have to
do is pick up a phone and call either our
colleagues at head office or another franchisee for
advice and guidance.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For further information call 01530 513300,
email franchise@recognition-express.com or visit www.recognition-express.com.
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