American Victor Kiam liked the shaver so much he bought the company.
Closer to home, a group of Business Doctors franchisees have taken inspiration from the Remington entrepreneur and done the same.
The Business Doctors 'gang of six' were no longer content to just run their highly successful individual franchises and wanted to be part of the company in a bigger way.
The half dozen, including bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year finalist Andy Mee, proposed to buy into the company as regional directors.
“After some discussion, franchisors Matt Levington and Rod Davies agreed to their offer of investment and are now welcoming six new members to the board who in total own ten percent of the business.”
Kevin Cook will now oversee the North West, West Yorkshire & North Midlands, Andy Mee, the home counties, SE Midlands & the East, Graham Robson, the North East, North & East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire & Humberside, Chris Simpson, the South East and Richard Tidswell and Paul Neck, the South West.
Chris Simpson said: “When I made my original investment in a Business Doctors franchise in early 2013 it was because I wanted to find an outlet for the full range of my experience and the energy I have for helping business owners grow and prosper. I was lucky to find Rod and Matt when I did as they share my views on the “how” and the “why” of business support. This further investment marks a new phase in the structure of the network but is very much a continuation of the same mission”.
Andy Mee said: "When I bought my franchise in 2014, I felt I was investing in a company that I truly believed in and one that was really aligned with my values. From the earliest days, I was equally concerned with growing the network as a whole as developing my own Oxfordshire and North Buckinghamshire business.
"Matt and Rod have always been really open to suggestions and I had a strong hunch they might be open to our offer.”
Graham Robson said: “My first 10 months with Business Doctors has exceeded my expectations and caused me to reflect on how I might be able to support the franchise nationally and grow the Business Doctors brand in the North East. My own success has demonstrated that SME’s in the North East are receptive to the value that Business Doctors provides, which creates an opportunity for more franchisees to come on board and help grow the region.
As a Regional Director, I represent the franchise in the North East strategically and provide local support to new franchisees helping them to also achieve a successful start to their business.”
Richard Tidswell said: “When I decided to leave my corporate career just over three years ago, you could argue I wanted to ‘have my cake and eat it too’. I wanted the freedom of being my own boss and running my own business, whilst still having a support network around me to bounce ideas off and collaborate with. Business Doctors delivered on both counts and continues to do so. I never wanted to be just operating at arm’s length and have been actively involved in feedback forums with the founders of Business Doctors to discuss ideas for developing the brand and service offer.
Franchisor Rod Davies said: "As a franchisor this is the ultimate compliment: that your franchisees like what you are doing that much that they want to play a bigger part in it.
"We have always welcomed input from our franchisees and some of our national initiatives, including our Learning & Development Academy, have come about from their suggestions.
"The idea of regional directorships was another franchisee driven initiative and will be a fantastic development for the whole network. New and established franchisees will now be better supported than ever and recruitment for the remaining territories will step up a gear."
Group photograph left to right
Paul Neck, John Nelligan (Master Ireland), Graham Robson, Matthew Levington (founder) Andy Mee, Kevin Cook, Rod Davies (founder) Richard Tidswell, Chris Simpson
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