Franchise opportunities in... Ipswich

Why choose Ipswich as a place to run your franchise?

With our head office based in Norwich, it would have been easy to skim over Ipswich… however we can just about muster things together. With a reasonable population size of over 130,000 it is a well populated area and one of the largest cities in the East Anglian region. Being set on the River Orwell, Ipswich is a great blend of industrial with its ports in Felixstowe as well as tourism areas within the city centre.

Ipswich is covered by Greater Anglia train service. The train station is part of the InterCity main line to London as well as Colchester, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Ely, Peterborough and Norwich. With car travel times to London in 2 hours, 30 minutes to Colchester and Norwich in 1 hour, commuting around these areas is reasonable.

Are there suitable areas for me to start-up a Franchise?

As mentioned above, Ipswich has got a variety of areas to potentially start a franchise depending on what sector you are going into. 

Here is a few area’s we have highlighted as potential locations:

• Ransome Euro-Retail Park – Located on the A1189, it allows for easy access into the Ipswich town centre as well as the A14 dual carriageway to bypass Ipswich. The park has got some big retail stores, so the footfall in this area is very high which would be perfect for a food & beverage franchise.
• Claydon Business Park – For a more industrious business park, Claydon is 6 miles from Ipswich so slightly further out however more convenient for the A12 access. For a very competitive rent price and some excellent onsite security and maintenance team the park would be some key highlights. With an onsite café and gym, it also offers great benefits for you and your employees. With some excellent onsite offices that would be perfect for any small and medium sized busines, they are worth a look at.
• Ipswich Centre – The city itself has got some great spaces available to begin your franchise career with some shopping centres containing existing franchises and local independent stores. With the city relying heavily on public transport and people walking around, your public presence will be also high.

What kind of support will I receive in Ipswich?

In addition to the support you will receive from your franchisor, it is always nice to receive a little extra help and guidance when first getting your feet off the ground. 

For funding support, there are a few avenues you can explore:

• Mercia Fund Managers – This financial support can provide loans ranging from £100,000 to £2.0m to established SMEs. These loans can be covered for up to 5 years and tailored to suit each business needs.
• Foundation East – This non-profit organisation operates over Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. They help by lending money to new businesses, existing businesses, self-employed people who cannot secure loans from their banks or need additional funding.
• Employer Training Incentive Pilot – Working alongside different partners, Suffolk’s Chamber of Commerce will be delivering the training which provides a 25% return against cash paid on additional training for Norfolk and Suffolk SMEs to grow and develop.

These were just a few examples of what sources you can explore when looking to open your new Franchise in Ipswich. A great prospect for those who seek an area which is looking to grow and develop. And if it does not appeal, you can always come up the road to Norwich anyway!