August 12, 2009 // Franchising.com // Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has today announced that it has appointed former finance and operations director, Michael Johnson, as its new managing director. Johnson replaces Robina Every who retired at the end of June.
"As part of UK Greetings, the largest public greeting card publisher in the world, Card Connection commands effectively £12 million of a £2 billion industry," confirms Michael Johnson, managing director of Card Connection. "Over the nine years I have worked at the company, I have developed a thorough appreciation of both Card Connection's successful franchise business model and the greeting card market itself. We are at an exciting point where the demand for our franchises remains high and the potential for franchisees to continue to grow their businesses, despite the economic downturn, is a very real proposition.
"A large proportion of our franchisees are taking advantage of the economies of scale gained through running a larger operation and as a result, many are experiencing significant increases in profitability," continues Johnson. "My aim is to build on this success and continue to drive our franchisee's business growth forwards with technological innovations like our electronic hand-held terminals to minimise admin, in addition to increasing our business through diversification of products suited to the convenience market."
An additional management promotion at Card Connection sees the appointment of Mel Momber as senior product manager. "Mel was the company's very first employee," confirms Johnson. "Her background in publishing and design before joining Card Connection in 1992, combined with the extensive experience she has gained in our product department over the years makes her ideally placed to lead management of our product offering into the future."
Card Connection has limited vacancies for franchisees who are keen to run an expanding business. Successful candidates would ideally have some management experience as, once established, they would be expected to employ a small team, operate a warehouse and have several liveried vans on the road.
Because the franchise networks in the UK and Ireland are complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development, but start at £20,000 (+ stock) with earnings potential in excess of £50,000 per annum.
Card Connection is one of the UK's most successful card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards.
The company was established in 1992 and became a Full Member of the British Franchise Association in 1995. It now distributes greeting cards to around 15,000 outlets through its network of franchisees.
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