Interview with Owen Barton, Naturespace
10-year Franchise Veteran Owen Barton, who has experience from both a franchisor and franchisee point of view, is now using this combination of experience and passion for franchising to head up an exciting new franchise opportunity in the grounds maintenance sector. With a core value to simply, ‘do the right thing’, Naturespace is changing the landscape of both the grounds maintenance and franchise industries; putting nature, the environment and people at the forefront of their business operations.
Tell us about yourself
I started out as a general manager in the gym industry, which is where I was first introduced to the wonderful world of franchising. Due to the success of the fitness brand, and the pilot franchisee, the business launched full scale into franchising and I was charged with leading the way in bringing the franchise opportunity to market. I then went on to be responsible for franchising across the property and services sector, including multi-brand franchise recruitment for one of the world’s largest groups of franchise brands.
I’ve not only experienced franchising from the aspect of the Franchisor, but as a true advocate of the business sector, my wife and I have also owned multiple franchises over the past 10 years, giving us the income and work-life balance we desired to raise our young family.
And now, I’m bringing my experience and passion for franchising to Naturespace, with a view to building an opportunity to deliver the same income and work-life balance opportunities to you.
Can you tell us about Naturespace
Naturespace was created with a view to building a robust, sustainable supply chain to the grounds maintenance sector. Environmental issues are at the forefront of everyone’s mind, so much so that it is now written into legislation in several industry’s that we work alongside. Naturespace are at the forefront of responsible grounds maintenance using battery powered hand tools and sympathetic techniques whilst educating our clients and customers on the benefits for them and for generations to come.
Naturespace perform all manner of tasks around the green space maintenance sector, from simple grass cutting and hedge trimming, to more complex work such as sustainable drainage system (SuDS) and habitat management.
As Naturespace is an owner operator franchise opportunity, we are looking for like-minded individuals to partner with us. You’ll need to love the great British outdoors, love nature and the environment and want to ‘do the right thing’ by it, for the good of the people we work with, for now and generations to come.
With strategic partnerships and contracts already in place, Naturespace is able to offer contracts and work to our franchise partners from Day 1 to get them started on the right foot. We’ll then support you to grow on from their winning more work and contracts in the commercial grounds maintenance sector.
Who is your target market?
The Landscaping Services industry contributed £5.4bn into the UK economy in 2023. With multiple business sectors requiring their grounds to be professionally maintained on a regular basis. A growing sector is one where Naturespace is already established, maintaining public amenity green spaces on new housing developments. But that aside, you can expect to market to sectors including (but not exhausting at);
- Offices/Factories
- Retirement Villages
- Care Homes
- Country/Business/Industrial parks
- Churches/Cemeteries
- Schools
- Nature reserves
- Private Estates
- Biodiversity Net Gain Units
Why is a Naturespace franchise a great investment for potential franchisees?
You don’t necessarily need to have experience in the grounds maintenance/ landscape/ gardening industries to start your own Naturespace business, you do need to be happy to work with your hands, after all we’re expecting you to do the grounds maintenance tasks yourself from the outset, as you begin to grow your business, and your team.
Don’t worry, as part of your initial franchise package we’ll ensure you are comprehensively trained and certified to use the equipment and perform the tasks you need to deliver our world class service.
What differentiates Naturespace from the competition?
You’ve heard of the saying, “it’s not what we do, it’s how we do it”, and it doesn’t ring truer than when looking at Naturespace. We don’t just cut grass; we manage habitats and engage the community to help us do that. Rather than manicured grass and green spaces, we mould them to provide a compromise between aesthetics and what’s best for nature. Including wildflower meadow management and wildlife highways/crossings, whilst keeping the space practical and pleasing for our customers.
Naturespace take our corporate social responsibility seriously and commit to holding ourselves to high standards of operation, driving initiatives such as;
- Zero to landfill
- Carbon net zero
- Biodiversity net gain
When it comes to franchising, we worked with our franchise legal team to write our Franchise Agreement and conduct ourselves in the ‘spirit of co-operation’. That means making some significant changes to our Franchise Agreement, coming away from the norm and disrupting what’s always been accepted. We won’t share exactly what here, but we’d be happy to share with you when we speak.
What is the role of a Narturespace franchisee?
As a Naturespace Franchise business owner you’ll be the face and workforce of your business, you’ll be leading from the front in managing these green spaces, ‘the right way’ on behalf of your customers.
Every day will be different, balancing people and equipment management, performing the daily duties of a green space aficionado along with the reporting duties which Naturespace have centralised where possible, and streamlined for you where not.
What qualities do you look for in a franchisee?
It’s simple…we’re after all-around good guys and girls who want to work with their hands. If you love the outdoors, love the environment and nature, and have a passion for customer service, then we probably want to speak with you about how we might help you build a business that is the vehicle to help you achieve YOUR goals.
Our recruitment process is a diligent one which gives you (and us) every opportunity to understand the business in its entirety to ensure that it suits you (and you it/us), your goals and ambitions for the future.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
Developing a franchise model itself is a tremendous challenge, putting together the systems, software, processes, documents and all the other backgrounds task to support our franchise owners to successfully launch and build their own business alongside our brand.
When looking at our grounds maintenance industry and the franchising sector our stance is just because it’s what’s always been done, doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to keep doing.
With that ethos, we’re always looking at our business and our sectors to see how we might do things better, not just different.
What have been Naturespace’s biggest achievements so far?
Securing our strategic partnership to give our franchise owners income and work to enjoy from the outset of the business development journey has been a tremendous coo for Naturespace. For Franchise owners it reduces the anxiety that come with starting aa new business and the initial question of ‘how do I win work and start earning money’, with that of course it helps them break even sooner and reduces the amount of working capital required.
Pilot Success – After launching our pilot franchise in March 2024, Seth is already delivering over £5,000 of service per month to his customers. 95% of which was sourced and provided by Naturespace through our strategic partnerships and Central Accounts which has kept Seth (and his employee busy over the summer months. The expected seasonality of our business, now sees Seth begin ramp up his business development tasks, including personally prospecting the businesses he’d like to work with and increased spend, alongside his year around marketing activities of networking and local advertising.
What does the future hold for Naturespace?
With over 150 sites across the Midlands and North of England waiting for Naturespace franchise owners to take them on, with a further 150 due to go ‘LIVE’ in the next 3 years.
Whilst we aim to service these sites as well as assist many more franchise owners like Seth to build businesses and achieve their goals, we’ll do it in a methodical and diligent manor, only partnering with people who match our values and criteria. Franchising is a partnership after all, one that will be far more enjoyable when matched with those we most resonate with.
What expansion plans have you got nationally and internationally?
A large proportion of our work profile is currently around the Midlands and North of England, so immediately we’re looking to ensure we deliver our exceptional customer experience and sympathetic habitat management methods to these sites and more in these areas.
Ultimately, we’re keen to spread the Naturespace method and ethos all over the UK, and we believe that that ethos, message and delivery system would resonate even further afield.
So, whilst there’s no immediate plans for international growth and our focus is very much on local development and support… never say never.
Interested and want to know more about Naturespace?
The Naturespace profile outlines all aspects of their franchise opportunity and allows you to contact them for further information or to ask a question.
