Covid-19 didn't stop Agency Express franchisee Brian Skinner from a successful launch

Brian Skinner launched his Agency Express franchise in August 2020. With many years’ experience in owning and developing a successful family business, Brian had reached a point in his life where he was ready for a change in direction.

Like many others, Brain had begun his journey in to franchising during the COVID-19 pandemic, but confident in his decision to sell his business and buy a franchise he continued undeterred.
After spending 15 years developing a family business from scratch in the Equestrian sector I decided to capitalise on its success and sell. I did not fancy the idea of retirement so started looking round for a different opportunity. A Friend had a franchise in the print sector, and I was impressed by the level of support that he received from his Franchisor. So, from there I researched franchising opportunities more widely.

I was immediately impressed with the professionalism of the marketing materials and the speed of response to my initial enquiry. The whole ‘van based’ concept was attractive to me in addition to the flexibility of the day-to-day management of the franchise. The impressive array of industry awards coupled with amazing levels of training and support offered by Agency Express made the decision to join and share their continued success an easy one.

Following a series of virtual meetings with the Agency Express team and local franchisees, Brian decided that the Agency Express franchise opportunity met all his requirements and made the decision to become a franchisee, purchasing the resale territory of Salisbury.

After successfully completing a comprehensive 5-day online training course and socially distant manual training, Brian was guided through the handover of his new business.

Head Office induction and training was first class - very thorough and covered every aspect of the process and what is involved. I also spent a couple of days with an operator prior to the training programme which proved invaluable. Ongoing support from head office is outstanding with a great degree of flexibility allowing you as the franchisee to use the elements which suit your own specific business. Marketing support and materials are very professional and without doubt the best in the business - enabling the franchisee to make an instant impact and hit the ground running from day one. From designing a unique personalised launch campaign though to regular mail shots and social media campaigns everything you can think of is available to support your business. Nothing is too much trouble for the Head Office team. They offer an invaluable level of support as standard.

Brian’s hard work and determination swiftly paid off. Within the first 6 months and despite any obstacle that the pandemic presented, Brian continued to develop the territory, resulting in a second van and his first employee.

So far, the experience has been all that I hoped for. Every day is different and presents assorted opportunities. Most of the day-to-day challenges are covered off in the training so I haven’t experienced anything that I wasn’t prepared for. The biggest thrill is opening and nurturing new business. The buzz from this is difficult to beat. Within the first six months I developed enough additional business to take on a second van and driver and I plan to continue this growth pattern with a third van within 18 months. I wish I had discovered Agency Express ten years ago – the business model works!! It is totally flexible and easy to operate all you need to do is apply yourself work hard and success will follow.