Driver Hire Case Studies - John Fraser and Simon Wise
John Fraser – Hull
John Fraser purchased the Hull Driver Hire franchise from its previous owners in December 2006. Having originally trained as an accountant, the majority of John’s career was spent managing farm estates on behalf of large organisations. He made the decision to start out in business by himself and when the opportunity arose to become a Driver franchisee, John grasped it with both hands.
Says John Warren, Driver Hire’s Franchise Sales Director, “John took over a territory that, although well-established, had seen little growth for several years and he didn’t waste any time in transforming it. He immediately relocated the business to new and larger premises, hired additional office staff and began a concentrated sales and recruitment programme. The results have been outstanding – in John’s first year at the helm, year-on-year sales grew by 68% and the Hull franchise won Driver Hire’s Gold Award for sales revenue at our recent Annual Conference.
John’s self-motivation, energy and enthusiasm coupled with his sound commercial judgement and the support provided by the franchisor have really paid dividends in Hull. I’m confident that the Hull franchise will go from strength to strength.”
Simon Wise- London North
If anyone should understand the benefits of buying a good franchise, it’s Simon Wise. Prior to becoming a Driver Hire franchisee Simon was Deputy Director of the British Franchise Association, a position which gave him an in-depth knowledge of hundreds of different franchise systems. In 2005 he decided to follow his own advice and opted to purchase Driver Hire’s North London territory.
Three years on and Simon is delighted with the way his business has grown, breaking sales and performance records along the way. His achievements have not gone unnoticed by the company – in 2006 he won Driver Hire’s prestigious ‘New Start of the Year 2006 Award’ closely followed by a Silver Award in 2007 and a Gold Award in 2008 for outstanding sales’ performance. “The thing you get with franchising that’s not available in any other business situation is the infrastructure and support,” says Simon.
“It’s vitally important and Driver Hire has a great ratio of Group Services support staff to franchisees. That meant I had a dedicated resource in my office for the first few weeks of trading. They helped me with my business plan and ensured that all the necessary systems were in place, creating a launch pad for future success.”
