Posted:28-March-2008
Are Martin & Co the fairy godmother of lettings?
Lettings have long been the Cinderella of the residential property business. Yet with the credit crunch and the continuing slowdown in sales, this sector of the market has never looked sexier. Which is why business at Martin & Co – the UK’s largest lettings franchise operation – is booming.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when residential sales are in the doldrums, lettings do well. So perhaps it’s not altogether surprising that Martin & Co is currently experiencing a period of record growth. “It is always hard to get the right people, but once they have been recruited, it has never been easier to launch new franchises, and nor have they been so successful, so quickly,” says Managing Director Ian Wilson.
Yet the current state of the market can only partly explain the phenomenon that is Martin & Co. Originally established in 1986, the company moved into franchising in the mid-1990s, having spent the intervening years proving and refining its systems. Since then, it has rapidly established itself as the clear market leader, with some 130 offices already operating, and well on course to reach its target of 200 in most major high streets by 2010. The ultimate goal is a national network of 400 offices – and few would bet against the company’s ability to reach that figure.
So – to put it bluntly - what is the secret of Martin & Co’s success?
At heart, everything stems from the company’s absolute focus on the actual business of franchising. In short, Martin & Co is 100% committed to recruiting, training, motivating and servicing the very best team of franchisees to the very highest levels – thereby helping to ensure that they can be extremely successful and profitable in running their own businesses.
The result is a franchising proposition that is extraordinarily compelling. Franchisees not only enjoy all the obvious branding and marketing advantages that flow from being part of the dominant national player in the sector, but they are also the beneficiaries of a uniquely powerful and comprehensive package of proven systems and ongoing support covering every single aspect of running a highly successful lettings business, with expert help always on hand from members of the company’s highly experienced head office team.
The core of that package is a minutely detailed 5-year business plan, precisely tailored by Martin & Co’s Finance Director, (Amanda Smalley), to match the particular circumstances and aspirations of each new franchisee. The initial deposit aside, the company will also help arrange financing for the venture at rates far more advantageous than those available to individuals.
Crucially important for any new business venture is finding the right premises in the right location. The Premises Manager offers expert advice and support in this absolutely key area, as well as working alongside franchisees to liaise with shopfitters, furniture and equipment suppliers in order to ensure that each new office opens on time and on budget.
Equally important is the question of staffing – and in Group Human Resources Manager (HR) Gemma Puzas, Martin & Co boasts a highly-experienced HR specialist dedicated to providing franchisees with full-time expert advice and support. This covers everything from the recruitment of suitably experienced personnel to the design of their remuneration package and individual target-setting. To make the whole staffing process even simpler, the company also provides pre-defined job descriptions for each role, together with a specialist contract of employment designed to ensure protection of confidential client records.
As befits an organisation that wears its hard-won Investors in People accreditation (recently renewed until 2010) with understandable pride, industry-leading training and staff development is a key plank of the Martin & Co offering, ranging from a comprehensive induction programme that combines a thorough grounding in all the fundamentals of lettings with a detailed introduction to Martin & Co, to an extensive programme of ongoing training and support designed to enable managers and staff at all levels to develop their expertise and career opportunities within the group to the fullest extent.
Ultimately, what drives Martin & Co’s commitment to such a comprehensive package of systems and support is the recognition of three core truths about franchising: that success flows from attracting the right kind of people; that those people will not necessarily come from a property industry background; and that franchisees should be empowered to free themselves – should they so choose - from the day-to-day running of the business altogether.
The most telling indicator of Martin & Co’s success in incorporating those truths into its offering is its continuing rapid growth – achieved without the need for a heavy spend on advertising or the usual attendance at franchise exhibitions, crucially, with no relaxation of its rigorous selection procedures. Recently quoted figures suggest that only around 30 out of every 1,000 enquiries are successful.
So, all in all, it’s clear that a Martin & Co franchise is a highly desirable property. Add in the current and projected state of the housing market – and the growing realisation that the private rental sector is destined to play a larger and larger structural role in the housing needs of the country as a whole – and it’s starting to look positively irresistible!
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