Andy Davies, Neil Dulson and Steve Marchant

Mac Tools, client of Coconut Creatives, welcomes a further three new franchisees to their UK network. Neil Dulson, Andy Davies, and Steve Marchant are the latest additions to join the network of over 115 trusted Mac Tools UK distributors.

Mac Tools are part of Stanley Black & Decker, a £7 billion organisation employing over 30,000 people worldwide. They are also the owner of the world famous Facom, Britool Expert and DeWalt brands. Over the last three years Mac Tools have achieved 25% year-on-year growth in what is considered to be a flat market.

Steve has had a varied career as a qualified, highly-skilled health and safety and ergonomics consultant with experience of working in a wide range of industries and environments before deciding to join Mac Tools. He is also a trained mechanic and was in the merchant navy directly after leaving school. So he is now embarking on another adventure and is taking to the helm of his new Mac Tools business in Northampton.

“After initial approaches and investigations, I thought I could see an opportunity, at 55 years old, to improve my standard of living, improve my job satisfaction, improve my retirement outlook and hopefully build a business that can be kept in the family. After days out with other franchisees I saw what can be achieved after 1 year, 10 years and 12 years. The rewards, job enjoyment and satisfaction were obvious and lead to an easy decision to pursue the chance of becoming a Mac-man.”

The Mac Tools line consists of over 18,000 professional tools including ratchets, wrenches, and assorted air tools, as well as its own toolboxes. This is something that particularly appealed to Neil, who is a great vehicle enthusiast. He is collecting army vehicles and is a member of the Military Vehicle Trust. Neil likes nothing more than looking back at a job well done and is now applying his dedication to his Mac Tools territory in Chester.

“I wanted to start my own business following redundancy and, after examining the competition and other options, I decided my skills and knowledge were best suited to a Mac Tools franchise. It has been hard work so far but it has also been very rewarding and the support of Keith, my franchise development manager, has been great,” adds Neil.

At the heart of Mac Tools’ success is the comprehensive training offered to its franchisees. Andy has now taken to the road in Cheltenham after completing his initial training alongside Neil and Steve. They received in-depth product, sales and business training and ongoing support from a dedicated business development manager. Andy is so convinced of the business model that he has also brought his partner Judi on board, who now looks after his bookkeeping and the administrative side of his franchise.

“The training and support network make such a difference. They want me to succeed and, even though I have a sales background and no motor trade background, I feel very much at home at Mac Tools. My first month has been a learning curve and hard work but I have already sold my first toolbox, which was definitely my favourite moment so far,” explains Andy.

“I have been made redundant 3 times in the last 18 months and decided that I needed to be master of my own destiny now. I looked at various franchises and Mac Tools seemed to fit my sales background more than most. I am used to selling high-quality products and Mac Tools fits right in there. I believe that people buy from people, so customer rapport and service are key to long-term success,” adds Andy.

This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!

Clive Woodward

Being your own boss has never been more popular – the number of people running their own business has risen by 367,000 since the start of the economic downturn in 2008.[i] For those people looking to be their own boss, yet enjoy the support of a well-known brand and support network, buying a franchise in a fast-expanding industry like business coaching is a tempting proposition.

ActionCOACH is the world’s leading business coaching firm and their coaches use their training, experience and skills to motivate other business owners and help them achieve success.

But who motivates the coaches? Who can they turn to for guidance and inspiration?

ActionCOACH see this issue as extremely important and so their franchise partners benefit from having access to a wide range of inspirational speakers. ActionCOACH regularly invites its franchise partners to events where they can hear success stories from high-powered entrepreneurs or take part in workshops with experts in everything from improving information retention to change management.

Already, in February, the ActionCOACH conference held in Portugal welcomed not only ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars but also Sir Clive Woodward. Sir Clive is one of the most successful British sports coaches of recent times leading the England Rugby team to World Cup Victory in 2003 and playing a key role in delivering the most successful British performance in an Olympic Games as the Director of Elite Performance for the British Olympic Association for the 2012 Games. His talk on “Creating Champions” transfers his experience in the sporting arena to the world of business to help business owners reach their potential.

ActionCOACH has an exciting programme of speakers lined up for Spring and Summer 2013. Action Coaches are also encouraged to invite their coaching clients to take advantage of learning from inspiring speakers including:

•   The UK’s leading speed reading trainer Alex Garcez, who explains how to quickly absorb and retain information

•   Michelle Clarke, the UK’s leading expert on Talent Dynamics Pathway,

•  Andy Hemming, of ActionCOACH, sharing his insights on keeping an ActionCOACH franchise simple and profitable and how to build a team of coaches in the West Midlands

•  The fascinating story of William Kendal, founder of The New Covent Garden Soup Company, speaking about the trials and successes of growing his business before selling up to buy Green & Black’s, which he and his colleagues then sold to Cadbury’s in 2005

• Damian Hughes lecturing on change management, he has written books including: “How to Change Absolutely Anything”, “Liquid Leadership”, “Liquid Thinking”, “Change Inspiration” and “The Survival Guide to Change”

• Adrian Webster will offer his expertise during a workshop on team building and customer service. He is also well-published, having written “Polar Bear Pirates and Their Quest to Reach Fat City” and “Polar Bear Pirates and Their Quest to Engage Sleep Walkers”.

Kim Richardson (OPC) and Sir Michael Bibby (Costcutter)

National supermarket group Costcutter has awarded Silver for the National Direct to Store Supplier Award to Coconut Creatives’ client The Original Poster Company (OPC) at its annual Supplier of the Year ceremony.

The awards ceremony in Harrogate was attended by over one hundred top suppliers from across the United Kingdom. The Costcutter Supplier of the Year awards recognise suppliers who have been dedicated and supportive in helping Costcutter retailers increase sales. At the awards ceremony suppliers in 11 different categories including national direct to store suppliers were rewarded for their hard work. Costcutter deals with 350 direct to store suppliers, both regional and national across a variety of products, so this was a great honour for OPC, having only been supplying the group with greetings cards for 6 years.

Established in 1991, OPC is the world’s leading greeting card distribution franchise, operating in an industry worth over £1.4 billion just in the UK. OPC’s franchise network has had complete UK coverage for over 20 years and is a full member of the British Franchise Association.

Kim Richardson, National Account Manager for OPC, pictured here with Sir Michael Bibby, Managing Director of Costcutter’s owner Bibby Line Group Ltd, at the awards ceremony, says:

“All of us at OPC are extremely proud and honoured to receive this award for great service, product and increasing sales within the Costcutter group. This is due to a combined effort from our franchisees, OPC support office and sales team, and the Costcutter buying and sales team.”

Over 90% of OPC’s franchisees surveyed agree that their home-based franchise system gives them the flexibility to enjoy their family life. Some franchisees are now selling their existing territories as they retire or move on to new business opportunities, creating huge potential for new owners to step in! These franchise resale territories are already established, so you start with an existing profitable business, including stock, cash flow and customers.

All new franchise owners follow an initial comprehensive training programme with regular ongoing field support from a dedicated Business Development Manager. This provides you with all the support you need to grow your sales and keep overheads low, whilst achieving great profit margins.

This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!

Fiona O’Mahony

Coconut Creatives’ client Rosemary Bookkeeping continues to add strength in numbers to its franchise network as three more Franchise Partners complete their training. Chereen McCarthy, Fiona O’Mahony and Jon Lewis all launched their franchises in March and, having come from very different backgrounds, found their pre-launch training extremely useful.

Jon, Franchise Partner in Sutton Coldfield, after being out of civvy street for so long, felt that he would benefit the most out of the three from the training: “After 24 years’ service in the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engineer, I knew that I wanted to get into the business world. The opportunity to be my own boss really excites me. I hope that from humble beginnings I am able to grow a sustainable and successful business and hopefully reap the rewards that come with this.’’

The Rosemary Bookkeeping™ Franchise now has over 20 franchisees nationwide, servicing the SME market of over 4 million businesses in the UK. The franchise is based on a business concept that has been established and refined for over 11 years providing a unique bookkeeping system within a fully supported franchise package. Franchisees obtain huge flexibility with superb work-life balance potential.

Fiona, Franchise Partner in Redditch, is a qualified Accounting Technician and, with two children in full-time education, decided that now was the time to become her own boss: “With my experience and qualifications plus the support of the Rosemary Franchise, I feel confident that my business will flourish.”

The franchise is backed by four successful entrepreneur business women, Claire Watson-Bardot, Joanna Dennis, Sarah Cook and Lisa Curteis who have over 60 years of business and bookkeeping experience between them. As an Associate Member of the bfa Rosemary Bookkeeping has a proven ability to sustain a franchise network successfully. This is something Chereen, Franchise Partner in Chelmsford, was particularly interested in: “If you are looking to buy into a franchise, you need to ensure that you are completely committed to investing time and energy into it. What reassures me is that each of the Rosemary team are experts in their fields and can support me with friendly, professional advice to reach my goals.’’

This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!

Mac Tools had entered the Best Overall Marketing Campaign, Best Print Advertisement and Best PR Campaign categories. They were finalists in all the categories and went on to win the Best Overall Marketing Campaign award. Mac Tools have been a full service client of Coconut Creatives and Coconut Media since November 2011 and has recruited over 30 new franchisees to their network during that time.

“We are absolutely delighted to win this award. The team have worked extremely hard to understand and connect with our target market through exciting marketing campaigns. Our franchisees benefit every day from our marketing activities, supporting them to take market share and achieve growth in a difficult economic climate. Our passion and drive is directed towards enabling our franchisees to be great to work with, therefore it’s fantastic for the team to receive recognition for a job well done,” says Tony Prueitt, Commercial Director UK & Ireland at Stanley Black & Decker.

Another well-known brand Baskin-Robbins, was also a finalist in all the of the award categories that they entered: Best Print Advertisement and Best Overall Marketing Campaign. A full service client with Coconut since Summer 2012, they were pleased to have been recognised for their franchise marketing efforts since they launched their plan to increase their network of ice-cream speciality stores in the UK last year.

“Everyone at Baskin-Robbins UK is delighted to have been shortlisted for the Franchise Marketing Awards and would like to congratulate all the winners. It is very important to have a strong franchise recruitment marketing campaign with a consistent and clear message across all activities, being shortlisted in both the best print advertisement and best overall campaign shows that we are doing just that. This will ultimately build a stronger franchise network for us. We are also very pleased to be working with Sally Butters and her team from Coconut Creatives on all our franchise recruitment activity,” says Jim Johnstone, UK Managing Director at Baskin-Robbins.

Shweta Jhajharia

Coconut Creatives’ client ActionCOACH is proud to announce that not one but three of their Action Coaches reported record monthly sales of

over £50k each in the month of December 2012. Shweta Jhajharia, Peter Boolkah and Neale Lewis have worked hard and are excited to have achieved such a great result in the run up to 2013.

ActionCOACH is the world’s number one business coaching franchise, with more than 1,000 offices in 40 countries and thrives by helping business owners achieve their goals. Most businesses excel at their trade or profession, but that unfortunately doesn’t mean that they’re great at the ‘business of business’. In reality less than 10% of businesses survive the first 10 years of operation.

Shweta joined ActionCOACH as a franchise partner in December 2008. Today, only four years later, she is not only London’s Number 1 Business Coach, but has also risen to be one of the top business women in the UK. Shweta secured her first client within her first month of business and has since coached over 200 businesses owners.

“Shweta has been a fantastic asset to my business. I’m so pleased I took the plunge and hired her because it actually turned out to be the best thing I have ever done! We have grown by 83% in under 2 years, with improved margins and systems and we now have bigger plans for the future,” states one of Shweta’s clients.

“My purpose is to create more choices and freedom for businesses by helping them develop a commercial, profitable enterprise that can work without them. Personally, I think that you owe it to yourself and to everyone who depends on your business to get the highest and best results,” adds Shweta.

Neale is an Action Coach in Derbyshire and Peter has been an Action Coach in East Anglia for over seven years. Peter chose ActionCOACH, because he was looking for a new challenge. He is now an award-winning Action Business Coach and is recognised as Europe’s Number 1 Business Coach, a result achieved through his fantastic client retention.

“For me the real value of being an ActionCOACH franchise partner is in the tools I was given. I received great support from my colleagues from day one and I work within a fantastic team of coaches who support each other. However, most importantly, I work really hard which has allowed me more than anything to generate high sales,” explains Peter.

This press release was featured on a variety of franchise related websites and also generated social media coverage. To find out how Coconut Creatives can help you generate great PR why not contact us!

Jim Johnstone

Baskin-Robbins, client of Coconut Creatives, is so much more than just the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty stores. Their mission is to build neighbourhood stores that not only sell ice cream but also create a fun and tasty environment for their customers.

Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burton “Burt” Baskin and Irvine “Irv” Robbins. Today, over 60 years later, Baskin-Robbins sells in excess of 300 million scoops of ice cream each week across 6,700 stores in 50 countries. Since their foundation they have introduced over 1,000 unique, fun and much-loved ice cream recipes, frozen drinks and ice-cream cakes.

We have recently spoken to Jim Johnstone, the UK General Manager at Baskin-Robbins, about what makes Baskin-Robbins such a success.

“The founders, Burt Robbins and Irv Baskin, realised that their strengths were in developing a great brand through focusing on product innovation, marketing strategy, operational excellence and a robust business model. They decided to franchise the stores to enable rapid growth of the brand.”

“The products we continue to develop today are unique and versatile. Ice cream cakes made in-store for any occasion, milkshakes blended in front of you from any of our 31 ice cream flavours on sale at any one time. We bring in a new flavour every month, true innovation! Finally, we have a great team here in the UK who are dedicated to helping franchisees grow their sales and profitability,” continues Jim.

Baskin-Robbins is operating in a market worth $1.8 billion. So we asked Jim what sets Baskin-Robbins apart from other ice cream brands and quick service restaurants.

“It’s a huge market with lots of competition. Other large brands have decided to focus on the take-home ice cream market while we are focusing on the whole experience in-store. As Burt Robbins said, We don’t sell ice cream, we sell fun,” explains Jim.

Baskin-Robbins already has 100 stores in the UK and is now offering opportunities to investors with a minimum of £300k liquid capital to develop a multi-store portfolio. A typical area containing 5 stores has the potential to turnover £1 million in the first full year of trading with EBITDA of 10-15%.†

With a Baskin-Robbins multi-store franchise you will receive full support and training as well as excellent return on investment!

†  full details are available during the discovery meeting

If you would like to find out how Coconut Creatives can help your franchise generate great PR please click here

John Booth

Coconut Creatives’ client, Mac Tools, celebrates the success of its franchisee John Booth. He has won this year’s Startups award in the Best Franchisee of the Year category. The Startups Awards are sponsored by NatWest and celebrate the success of businesses in the UK that have been trading for less than three years. 35 companies from across the country had been named as finalists for the awards and were hoping to win one of the 14 trophies up for grabs.

The competition for this year’s Franchisee of the Year award was fierce. John was nominated alongside successful ActionCOACH and Revive franchisees. In the end, John’s hard and consistent work over the last two years earned him the award and the honour of sitting next to Dragons’ Den’s own Duncan Bannatyne at the glitzy awards lunch.

“I’m thrilled but totally surprised and delighted! My thanks go to my wife Jean as I simply couldn’t run my business so successfully without her support,” says John.

John has been operating his Mac Tools franchise in Falkirk since 2010. Mac Tools is part of Stanley Black & Decker, a $11+ billion global organisation employing over 30,000 people worldwide and owner of the world famous Stanley Black & Decker, Britool Expert, Facom and DeWalt brands. The Mac Tools line consists of over 8,000 professional tools which are sold to customers such as car dealerships, automotive repair shops, manufacturing units, and engineering companies.

John is one of over 100 UK distributors. When he first started his franchise in 2010, John was really keen to get out on the road after completing his training within the UK and at the Mac ‘Tool School’ in Ohio, USA. He also receives hands-on support from his Regional Franchise Manager and regular support from a dedicated team of staff at the European Headquarters in Sheffield that are always available when needed. John utilized all the training and support that was given to him and this combined with his strong work ethic also earned him the Mac Tools Franchisee of the Year award twice within his two years of operation.

With a potential UK market of over £150 million, Mac Tools is a great franchise for someone with the drive, passion and desire to work for themselves.

If you would like to find out how Coconut Creatives can help your franchise generate great PR please click here

Cafe2U van on beach

Cafe2U, client of Coconut Creatives, is the world’s largest mobile coffee franchise. Cafe2U continues to grow worldwide and is proud to announce its launch in South Africa. South Africa will be the third international market, next to Germany and New Zealand, that Cafe2U has added to its growing global franchise network in 2012. South Africa is a discerning marketplace offering huge growth potential for Cafe2U’s latest Master Franchise owner, Marco Da Silva.

Marco knows the potential of the South African coffee market from first-hand experience. In 2007, Marco and his cousin Dylan launched renowned Mokador Coffee in Johannesburg, operating as the sole distributors of this premium Italian roasted coffee brand to the South African market.

Marco knows from his experience that the South African market differs from the Australian and English marketplace, even though the coffee culture is quickly developing, it remains about 10 years behind. However, the demand for quality coffee is growing rapidly and so Marco feels this is the perfect time to introduce Cafe2U’s mobile franchises to the market, as there is a definite space for Cafe2U.

“Many of the businesses in South Africa are in business parks meaning employees need to drive to get to their local café. Cafe2U offer amazing coffee and café style bites served at your business address, which is a concept we believe consumers will be very excited about,” says Marco.

“We cannot wait to launch our first van into the market and introduce South Africa to the amazing coffee in the most convenient way possible. The South African coffee scene is going through a mini revolution,” adds Marco.

With a population of just over 50 million, Cafe2U International’s Managing Director Derek Black believes this is a rare opportunity for Cafe2U to be part of the evolving demand for quality espresso coffee in South Africa.

“Cafe2U is already the largest mobile coffee franchise in the world and this development in the South African market marks the beginning of a powerful new clientele and incredible growth opportunity,” says Derek.

Cafe2U have won a multitude of awards for their franchise business model, their coffee and for their service levels. Founded in Australia, Cafe2U has been operating the business for 10 years and have expanded their franchise model to the UK 5 years ago. They already have over 50 franchise partners across the UK, and over 100 in Australia and have successfully launched in the US in 2011.

If you would like to find out how Coconut Creatives can help your franchise generate great PR please click here

Christina Gray, franchise partner Southampton

No franchise understands this better than Rosemary Bookkeeping and this is being recognised by other franchisors that have started outsourcing their bookkeeping services! Around the country, Rosemary franchise partners are helping more and more franchisors (and their franchisees) with their bookkeeping, so that they can stick to doing what they do best: servicing their customers and winning new business for future growth.

Along with the other 4 million SME businesses in the UK that are required to keep bookkeeping records which later are used by an accountant to file for tax and VAT, franchisors and franchisees are no different. Yet, managing these transactions is often the biggest headache to franchised business owners and a task that is left at the bottom of the pile. After all, winning new business and looking after customers must come as a priority.

Keeping accurate financial records for any business owner can be a daunting task. Often, franchisee business owners must provide financial information for their franchise territory and there is often additional reporting required.  Franchisee business owners need a bookkeeping solution that understands this special relationship, which is why many are now turning to Rosemary Bookkeepers for the solution.

Christina Gray, Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise partner based in Southampton, already provides support to several franchisors: “The general reaction I have received working with other franchisors has been very positive. They value a tailor-made professional service th

at takes away the hassle of bookkeeping from their busy schedules.”

Rosemary Bookkeeping’s unique Rosemary System® is built around charging clients per transaction rather than per hour, so the franchisee or business owner can always clearly see what they are being charged for.

To meet demand from the growing number of franchisees and franchisors requesting Rosemary’s bookkeeping services, Rosemary Bookkeeping is now offering a dedicated support service to other franchisors. Lisa Curteis, director at Rosemary Bookkeeping says: “As a franchisor, I can fully appreciate the difficulty other franchisors experience going through the accounting process. With this dedicated service, we are aiming to save franchisors and franchisees time and money, so they can focus on making more money.”

Rosemary Bookkeeping’s franchise network continues to grow to meet demand for their expert services. Over the next few months, Rosemary Bookkeeping’s franchise network will expand to cover the Midlands and North of England as well as the established southern network of franchise partners. The latest to open is the Southport territory; open for business from late September 2012.

The Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise is based on a business concept that has been established and refined since 2002 and a franchise package focused on flexibility for its franchise partners with superb work/life balance potential.

Rosemary Bookkeeping is attending the National Franchise Exhibition on 5th & 6th October at the NEC and the Business Start Up Show 22nd & 23rd November in London. Request a free ticket for either event by emailing: franchise@rosemarybooks.co.uk or call 0845 862 0072.