Card Connection Franchisee Doubles Size of Business

By: Card Connection | 0 Shares 105 Reads

August 28, 2008 // Franchising.com // Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has announced that Andy Thomson, franchisee for the Sunderland and Durham region has doubled the size of his franchise within just three years.

"Andy Thomson has now upgraded his Card Connection franchise territory to what we call a Platinum franchise," confirms Andrew Cutler, franchise director at Card Connection. "This is a great achievement, and now means that he is managing his own mini-business rather than simply distributing greeting cards.

"Currently Andy runs two vans, and with his wife, employs a full-time merchandiser and a part-time helper to pack the greeting cards ready for distribution," explains Cutler. "By taking advantage of the economies of scale achieved by running a larger operation, Andy has been able to significantly improve his profit margins to the extent that he has doubled the size of his business within three years."

Card Connection itself is one of the UK's largest card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards. Using a proven system, franchisees place greeting card ranges in retail outlets on a 'consignment' basis. The award winning merchandising service provided to retailers by local franchisees is second to none and has established the company's excellent reputation especially within the convenience sector. Card Connection supplies numerous national accounts, which include the likes of Welcome Break, Total, Budgens, Londis, Spar and Shell.

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's greeting cards and the merchandising service is very popular with retailers and this has been largely behind the success of my own franchise," confirms Andy Thomson, franchisee at Card Connection. "Good growth of the business in the last few years has meant I have been able to develop my area and even recently acquire an additional, neighbouring territory. Despite the forecasted downturn, I anticipate continued growth for my franchise in what has been described as a 'recession-proof' industry. I shortly hope to purchase a third van and increase my staff to include two full-time merchandisers and another packer."

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