Dream Doors proves to be the career change a Father and Son duo were looking for

A FATHER and son duo acquired their kitchen makeover franchise business together after deciding they were both ready for a career change.

Robert Chapman took over his Dream Doors within the York franchise territory six years ago and asked his son James to come on board with the franchise venture.

Robert used to play golf with the previous owner of the showroom and felt the opportunity was right for him and his son to take over the business when the previous owner retired.

Former bookkeeper Robert said: 

“I had semi-retired but I still wanted to work.

“I thought to myself: ‘I’m not ready to sit around and do nothing yet’ and there’s only so many times you can tidy up your garage before it gets boring! Around the same time, I think my son James wasn’t enjoying his job and the prospects in his role in sports development for a local authority weren’t brilliant. We had a conversation about working together and, after doing our research, we decided to go for this opportunity.”

Compared to 2014, trading conditions for the showroom are very different in 2020 but Robert said it is still proving to be a highly profitable business.

He said: 

“Our leads have rocketed during the Covid-19 lockdown. At the start of the lockdown we started to see a reduction in leads and fewer customers visiting the store, but we maintained contact with our customers and that has turned into sales now the showroom has reopened.

“After the early slow down, leads have started flowing in again now. People are not going on holidays anymore, so they’re spending their money on new kitchens instead.”

Dream Doors is looking for more talented franchisees like Robert and James who are ready to represent an industry-leading brand as part of a recession-proof business model.

There are just 19 new franchise territories available nationwide, particularly in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Scotland.