The BFA (British Franchise Association) posted the latest FiltaFry case study in the UK.  

The FiltaFry Franchise is an Assiciate Member of the BFA.

“Working for myself is fantastic!”

Shock redundancy hit former bindary technician Dean Martin when Norwich’s New Jarrold Printing closed in September 2006. However, turning lemons into lemonade, he used his new-found freedom to commit to a FiltaFry franchise.

“I was disappointed being made redundant, but I miss the people more than the work,” says Dean. “Working for myself is absolutely fantastic. The main benefit is being your own boss, choosing what hours you want to work and when. I just like being in control. I am dealing with the same customers on the same days each week and I like going out to look for more work to get more income. I’ve got a good rapport with the customers and I have got no one to answer to. It has turned out being made redundant was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

FiltaFry franchisees provide a cooking oil filtration service to restaurants and hotels. The national shortage of cooking oil and massive price increases mean that FiltaFry’s environmentally friendly service, which prolongs the life of cooking oil, is in high demand. “I have built the business up from basically nothing to working Monday to Friday, with around 30 clients,” says Dean. “I could get more if I wanted too, if I started earlier in the mornings or worked later at night. The major bonus of this business is that there is no competition or any other business coming close to what I do in East Anglia. There are no other businesses doing what I do in East Anglia.”

Dane Sampson, 20 years old from Bristol explains how the head office franchise team at FiltaFry Plus have supported him and enabled him to achieve his short-term aims in 2 months! 

When I wanted the challenge of running my own business I decided that franchising was my best option. I chose to invest in a franchise because I wanted to own a business that already had an established reputation and could give me support if I needed it.

While researching into the franchise opportunities available FiltaFry really stood out because it was such a unique business. Also I felt that it had a good earning potential and would provide the opportunity to expand.

My franchise covers the Bristol territory and since launching in September 2009 my round is already half full. I have had no problems in getting customers and I found that the training I did prior to my launch had fully prepared me for the running of my business. The beauty of this franchise is the repeat business week-in, week-out with the same customers and you only need 35 to 40 customers to reach serious earning potential.

Within two months I managed to fulfil my short-term aim of having a full round. I am now concentrating on establishing my business and building a good relationship with my customers and in the future I might look at expanding.

Although it is more difficult being self-employed the skills I have learned running my franchise will stay with me for life. I feel that, being self-employed, anything is possible and the opportunities are endless.

I was only 20 when I took the leap to be my own boss and the support of the FiltaFry head office team has enabled me to develop the skills needed to be a successful business owner. If someone had told me when I left my job that I’d be doing all this for myself within a year, I’d never have believed it!

The FiltaFry service is even offered in Hunduras!  From March 2010, FiltaCool is being offered in Honduras.

Shock redundancy hit former bindary technician Dean Martin (pictured above) when Norwich’s New Jarrold Printing closed in September 2006. However, turning lemons into lemonade, he used his new-found freedom to commit to a FiltaFry franchise.

“I was disappointed being made redundant, but I miss the people more than the work,” says Dean. “Working for myself is absolutely fantastic. The main benefit is being your own boss, choosing what hours you want to work and when. I just like being in control. I am dealing with the same customers on the same days each week and I like going out to look for more work to get more income. I’ve got a good rapport with the customers and I have got no one to answer to. It has turned out being made redundant was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

FiltaFry franchisees provide a cooking oil filtration service to restaurants and hotels. The national shortage of cooking oil and massive price increases mean that FiltaFry’s environmentally friendly service, which prolongs the life of cooking oil, is in high demand. “I have built the business up from basically nothing to working Monday to Friday, with around 30 clients,” says Dean. “I could get more if I wanted too, if I started earlier in the mornings or worked later at night. The major bonus of this business is that there is no competition or any other business coming close to what I do in East Anglia. There are no other businesses doing what I do in East Anglia.”

With four more franchise owners joining the network, FiltaFry Plus is expanding strongly thanks to its cost saving, repeat business service

FiltaFry Plus has continued its impressive franchise network growth in 2009 with the latest class of franchise owners graduating from its initial franchise training programme. Four new franchise owners – Karl Williams (North Wales), Paul Manners (South coast), Zayad Ali (North London) David Cassells (ML and KY postcodes) – completed their induction in October and are now in the process of launching their businesses.

“I was attracted to the FiltaFry Plus opportunity because it offers a very good service with lots of potential customers and little competition,” says Karl. “The head office team made a very good impression and were very helpful while I was making my decision. I expect this business to be very successful and I’ll be very busy in the future earning a good living.”

Paul Manners highlights FiltaFry Plus’s national account work, which is provided to franchise owners by its head office sales team, as a major bonus. “The business is very strong with the additional national business,” he says. “It’s easy to share the passion that the head office team have for the FiltaFry business. What’s more, there’s no other service like this in my area!”

The potential for building a substantial business was a key factor in bringing Zayad on board. His ambition is to grow his FiltaFry Plus franchise to encompass a fleet of vans. “I’ll be hands-on in the business for the first six months,” he reports. “Once I’ve brought in enough business I’ll recruit employees to provide the service so that I can focus my time on promoting the business in my territory.”

The FiltaFry business model has been established for 14 years and has seen constant improvement by its franchisor team. “We provide a proven service that generates weekly repeat business for franchise owners and cost savings for customers,” says Franchise Manager Damian Slater. “For instance, the introduction in our vans of a 300 litre waste oil collection tank has provided an additional income stream for franchise owners through selling the oil on to biodiesel producers. The newer, more versatile vans can stock fresh cooking oil and other kitchen hygiene products to generate additional sales to existing customers.”

FiltaFry is seeking to grant the remaining 12 territories is has available in the UK over the next year, but there are opportunities to purchase existing businesses in the network. “We’re looking to bring in 15 more individuals over the next 12 months,” Damian reveals. “Just as with our latest class of franchise owners, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive initial training programme, followed up with a full week of business support and an eight week business development plan which we will help you to follow, monitor and review.”
 

Reported by Stuart Anderson

FiltaFry Plus has perhaps been associated with being a more male oriented business model in past years. However, this year has seen two more women franchisees join the successful and ever growing network in the UK.

In April FiltaFry Plus welcomed aboard Karen Herbert from Bridgend who has taken over the CF postcodes and Deborah Bixter from Rugby who has taken over the CV postcodes. Both Karen and Deborah had some reservations at first as to whether they would be physically strong enough to move the highly specialised equipment around with ease but soon realised that this is down to technique and not brute strength. They have both settled well into the network and are developing their businesses in line with their original goals.

Karen intends to grow her business within the year to enable her partner Ian to give up his full time job and join her to operate a second shift thus maximising the potential of the existing equipment and resources. Since taking on the Franchise Deborah has won customers such as the Ricoh Arena, home to Coventry City FC, the local Ikea store and Warwick University. She is eventually looking for a management role by having a number of operatives working for her in the CV postcode, which she will develop over a threeyear period.

“From the outset I could see the benefits of the FiltaFry Service due to massive price increases of cooking oil and the savings that catering establishments make using FiltaFry Plus,” Deborah reflects. “Due to the economic climate this made it an easy decision for me when choosing the franchise opportunity. My previous career was in customer services and I understand that it is all about being able to offer a high level of service and going that extra mile for your customers.”

Prior to taking on the FiltaFry Plus Franchise, Karen had taken some years out from care work to bring up her daughter. She was finding it increasingly difficult to work her hours around school times, which eventually lead her to FiltaFry Plus. “FiltaFry Plus is a franchise, which does not need to be nine to five and the hours that you arrange your jobs for can be fitted in and around your family life,” says Karen.  “You can always find different customers for any hour of the day or night which will also be good once Ian comes on board to operate the second shift.

 “Something I also like about the concept is that it is repeat business week in week out and once you have 35-40 customers you have a full van for a one shift operation and with relatively low overheads this means I have great earnings potential. My experience with FiltaFry Plus so far has been everything and more than I expected to receive, particularly in the early days with support from the Head Office team who have helped me get clients such as Cardiff Airport, Moto motorway services and Bosch among many others.”

The day after Gordon Finlay flew back from holiday he made a life-changing decision. Looking round the Franchise Show, he came upon the FiltaFry stand. By June 2002 he was running his own FiltaFry business.

Before the Show, Gordon had been looking to set up a business in Lincoln, but he saw that FiltaFry could give him the opportunity to return to his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne. Luckily for him his wife, Joanne, and young kids Lydia and Harry, supported his decision – and he’s never looked back.

Gordon is familiar with the problems of owning and managing a business. He had run a general store and, before that, had been manager of an estate agency. So he has plenty of experience to call on in commenting on the FiltaFry set-up. “I found no hidden problems, no uncertainties,” says Gordon. “The market for the service is there – I get most of my new customers by word of mouth. Once chefs see how good the service is, they tell their friends and managers. And Filta helps with securing bigger customers, for example my Business Development Manager is happy to phone or meet key management in National Accounts to back my pitch.

“The Filta support package is excellent, and the training is first class, too. Within a few months of start-up I was earning a steady £800 a week, working around 30 to 35 hours. Like the man says, FiltaFry does exactly what it says on the can!”

The FiltaFry service looks after oil used for frying in commercial catering kitchens. ‘Oil-management’ is a huge task for most caterers, and one that all kitchen staff hate. An on-site micro-filtration and oil purification service, the FiltaFry programme takes over much of the routine tasks (and problems) of both oil management and fryer equipment cleaning.

“The actual process is easy,” says Gordon. “The FiltaFry system is designed to be simple to operate and efficient. Basically, if you follow the procedures in the FiltaFry manual, you can’t go wrong.”

Given the number of catering sites in every part of the country, almost all of them with a deep fat fryer, the market is huge. Just as importantly, in terms of selling the service, the programme of protecting and managing cooking oil can result in significant savings in oil costs and preservation of cooking quality.

So, FiltaFry franchisees do a job that their customers hate. In doing it, they save their customers money and help improve their food. It’s hardly surprising, then, that Gordon and his fellow FiltaFry franchisees are creating profitable businesses across the UK.

What makes a good franchisee? Again, Gordon can speak with some authority. “Reliability is what the customers want. Obviously being friendly with customers is important, and taking pride in your appearance, including the van: it’s a great advert for the business.

“Going that extra yard at a job is the way to keep your customers happy. I’ll not only do the job I’m there for, I’ll also maybe spend an extra five minutes to ensure everything is perfect. When the chef sees the improved quality of their fried food, they’re delighted.”

Of course, running your own business is not just about money, there are other rewards, too. Gordon is a life-long Newcastle United fan, and now he’s looking after the fryers in the Magpies’ stadium!

FiltaFry Plus is celebrating a strong year of growth so far with 14 new franchisees plus new Master Franchisees in Poland and Italy on board in 2008.

Filta Group, the fryer management service franchise is expecting further network growth before the end of the year through its participation in the National Franchise Exhibition and Master Franchisees due to launch in Kuwait and Indonesia.

In addition, the group has negotiated price increases on its major national accounts which provide a substantial portion of its franchisees’ business.

“The FiltaFry franchise opportunity can suit any person from any background as long as they have a drive to succeed and basic customer skills,” says Franchise Manager Damian Slater.

“We have seen people from a variety of backgrounds join us this year including ex-professional footballer Martin Barlow from Plymouth, ex-hotelier Ian Kelly from Yorkshire and ex-train driver Tony Brough from Liverpool. There has never been such demand in the UK for the FiltaFry Plus Fryer Management Service, due to massive increases in cooking oil prices and the benefit of companies being able to eliminate Health and Safety Risks connected to the filtering and cleaning of Deep Fat Fryers in their commercial kitchens.”