Strong network growth brings optimism

The revenue growth that was experienced in the last few weeks of 2009 has continued into the first quarter of 2010. Comparative year-on-year revenues in each of the first 12 weeks of 2010 have grown by at least 25% and during March, sales grew by over 30% each week. Says Franchise Sales Director John Warren, "The temporary recruitment sector is usually the first to feel the ill-effects of a recession. Conversely it is also amongst the first to benefit from an upturn. These results are great news for our current franchisees and all the signs are that 2010 could be an ideal time for new franchisees to come on board with Driver Hire."

Drivers CPC provides a new revenue opportunity

Driver Hire has taken advantage of a national mandatory training requirement for commercial drivers, by turning it into a new business opportunity for its franchisees. The company has designed an accredited training course for its franchisees which will enable them to train both drivers and customers in professional competence skills. This has been coupled with a nationwide marketing initiative which provides customers with free training in return for placing their temporary labour requirements with Driver Hire. Head of Training Richard Armitage says, "The vast majority of our franchisee have now attended a 3-day “Train the Trainer” course and over 300 drivers have already been trained in various locations across the UK. This is another example of Driver Hire being ahead of the game and giving franchisees another lucrative revenue stream "

Five new franchisees join Driver Hire

The last few months have seen five new franchisees join the Driver Hire network, three of them being people with “inside knowledge” gained from previous employment within our business. Our offices in Dundee and Lancaster have both been sold as going concerns, the former a real top performer currently occupying third place in the Driver Hire sales league table. Offices in Wakefield, Sheffield and Lincoln are also now under new ownership. The Sheffield franchise has been bought by Rob Leek and Ian Leadbeater, both of whom worked in Driver Hire’s Bradford office for several years before deciding the time was right to take the plunge themselves. Says Rob, “We believe that Sheffield has massive potential for Driver Hire and we are determined to make a success of it. We’ve seen how much money can be made in this business and we’ve decided we now want a share of it for ourselves”

Deferred payment scheme for new franchise purchase

Driver Hire has launched a scheme to help those buying new franchisees to finance their purchase. Providing a prospective franchisee can find a 30% deposit then Driver Hire will provide funding for the balance on commercial terms over a 2-year period. John Andrews, Driver Hire’s Finance Director, says “We don’t want good prospective franchisees to be deterred by the banks’ lending restrictions so we are prepared to help fund the purchase ourselves. In the long run it’s going to benefit both parties and we have already recruited two new franchisees on this basis