Dressed for success

Buying the right suit is never easy. For most men, the thought of hours spent traipsing around shops, looking for something right to wear, will fill them with utter dread or intense malaise. But now, new franchise Berkley Brewer offers shop-a-phobic men a remedy for these conditions by taking the made-to-measure service directly to their doors.

Company founder Jason Gardiner says: 'Up until the inception of Berkley Brewer, anyone wanting to buy a suit has had two options: either to go to one of the high street stores and grab something off-the-peg, only to end up with something ill-fitting, unflattering or expensive, or go to somewhere like Savile row for a real made-to-measure experience.

'Unfortunately, the latter option means hanging around in intimidating places worrying about intimidating prices. And then there's the travelling involved.The bottom line is that most men won't put themselves through the ordeal of buying a suit, because it's a hassle, and usually very costly. But at Berkley Brewer, we've solved both of these problems. Now, ordering a fine, made-to-measure suit at a good price is almost as easy as ordering a pizza.'

Spinning off from this idea, Berkley Brewer is now also available as a one-size-fits-all franchise that promises attractive financial rewards for the right investors. At less than £10,000, the price ensures that the initial outlay doesn't leave the bank balance frayed at the edges before trading has begun.

With the new business model, franchisees visit their clients at home or place of work. They show them a range of fabric samples available to choose from, discuss their individual preferences, and help to plan their future wardrobe for any occasion.

Jason adds: 'For the client it's like having 100 high street stores coming right to your door. When that kind of service is available, who in their right mind would want to go out and buy a suit off the peg again!'

One of Berkley Brewer's first franchisees, Stephen Schofield, has seen his own client base grow rapidly, showing the popularity of the concept.

He says: 'I had 30 years' experience as a yarn manufacturer, but then the manufacturing side was outsourced to cheaper countries such as China, and UK businesses couldn't compete.

'I've always wanted to get back into working with fabrics in some capacity, and Berkley Brewer presented me with the perfect opportunity. At the same time it has enabled me to continue being my own boss, but with the added benefit of ongoing support from head office.'

Stephen adds that knowledge of the fabric industry isn't a prerequisite. 'What's more important is having great people skills and being able to interact with your clients at home or workplace.'

Franchisees undergo sales and product training at a hotel location in Cheshire. Training covers the principles of fabric technology and garment production and assembly to give the franchisee a solid understanding of what goes on behind the business.

Further training covers Berkley Brewer's bespoke software system and sales and marketing skills. Franchisees can then begin trading with confidence, and hopefully make a good profit as Robin Gifford, one of the three company directors, confirms:

'With only 10 new clients a month in the first year a franchisee can expect to make around £50,000 profit from just four sales to each client. However, to achieve this, they must stay close to the sales process outlined in the training seminars and manual, and have a real gift when it comes to dealing with people. These things are absolutely central to the success of a new franchisee as well as to the continued success of the network as a whole.

'It takes time to find exactly the right calibre of franchisees,' adds Robin.

'And we want franchisees that will, cumulatively, ensure that Berkley Brewer is a resounding success. We're also going against the grain in the sense that we only want 40 franchisees to complete the network.

'Because of this ethos, we won't be giving a franchise away to anyone who walks through the door just because they have the money to pay for it. If they're not right for the wider business, we won't take them on.'

Berkley Brewer also bucks another trend by refusing to offer its franchisees exclusive territories. 'We've deliberately avoided doing what most other franchises do here, because we feel that any kind of territorial exclusivity would be restrictive for our franchisees, given the business model we've adopted.

'Instead, the individual territories are very large, subsuming a number of counties, and the numbers of franchisees in each of those territories is capped so that there is enough business for everyone. There's also nothing to stop one franchisee servicing a client in a different territory, though what we wouldn't allow is for them to market their services directly to a neighbouring region.'

One of the most attractive attributes of this package is the fact that there are no further costs once the franchise fee has been paid.'These are the kind of burdens that our franchisees just don't have to shoulder,' adds Robin. 'We don't see it as fair to take money from franchisees before they're making any - that's demotivating. Nor do we make an excessive amount from them while they are operational. We feel that we have struck a harmonious chord between the financial rewards of the network and those of the individual franchisees. It's a win-win situation for everybody.'

Investment level: £8970
Website: www.berkleybrewerfranchise.co.uk
Email: recruitment@berkleybrewer.co.uk
Phone: 0845 130 2899
Franchise classification: Menswear sales