Heading to new cities

New City Contract Cleaning, the Telford-based commercial and contract cleaning firm, has embarked on an ambitious and challenging schedule of expansion through franchising which looks set to take it into numerous territories across the UK over the next 12 months.

The business was started in 2000, and since then has grown rapidly on the back of repeat business from large national groups, property developers, city councils and smaller regional enterprises.

"The demand has grown to such an extent that we need to establish a presence throughout the country," says sales director Laura Scattergood. "We evaluated several different business models and identified that franchising would be the most effective route for all parties. The ethos of New City is based upon a national company providing a local service. Given that we have developed very thorough operating systems, it is important that we can retain control of the quality and system standards wherever we are serving clients. It was these factors, combined with an extremely well-developed business model, that led us to consider franchising."

The New City franchise is very much a managerial role: franchisees will not be required to undertake any of the cleaning themselves (in fact, the franchisor expressly forbids it). The role is one of co-ordinator and manager, recruiting and managing teams of commercial cleaners, maintaining the quality and looking after the customers. As Ms Scattergood explains: "Our business is all about operating a system which we have spent many years developing. Franchisees can enjoy the same levels of success that we have enjoyed in our pilot areas by simply following the system, achieving the same levels of customer service and quality standards."

The franchisor also provides the franchisees with a number of additional benefits, some of which are very unusual in the current market. "We handle all of the marketing for franchisees," she explains. "Which means that we will target specific companies in the franchisee's territories, and follow these up to provide franchisees with high quality qualified leads for them to go in and convert, which again, following our system, results in very high levels of success."

Franchising a successful business model gives budding entrepreneurs a way to get their own business up and running, but without many of the risks inherent in starting an entirely new business from scratch. New City's managing director, Caroline Meredith, says: "Starting out with a new concept in a new market is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do; you need to become an expert in marketing, sales, finance and accounting before you even begin delivering a service or a product. However, by buying into a proven franchise system, all of those worries are taken away. You let the franchisor train you in the system, and by following that system, you can concentrate on building up your own business with much of the stress removed."

She goes on to explain that naturally there is full training provided, but in addition to the marketing function provided by the franchisor there is another very important facility which the franchisor provides. "We handle all of the credit control and cash collection on behalf of the franchisee," she explains. "We understand that maintaining a good cashflow is vital to any business, and it can be difficult to keep a strict control on the cash without jeopardising the relationship with the client. So by centralising this, we can protect the personal relationship between the franchisee and the client, whilst still keeping the cash coming in, which these days is more important than ever."

The investment level for a full New City franchising package (to include all equipment, liveried vehicle, training, support and franchise fee) is £22,500 + VAT. The projected earnings (before tax) for a franchise territory are £18,000 in year one, rising to £60,000 in year two and over £100,000 by year five.

Investment level: £22,500 + VAT
Liquid capital: £12,000
Website:
www.newcity.biz
Email:
franchise@newcity.biz
Phone:
0800 511 8815
Classification:
Cleaning services