Furniture Clinic

Franchisor Interview - Looking At The Bigger Picture With Furniture Clinic Franchise

15th July 2009

We take an in-depth look into one of the fastest growing franchises of 2009 to see how, and why this franchise model has been such a success. The franchise in question, is Furniture Clinic, a leather cleaning & repair business based out of Gateshead, Tyne & Wear.

The company was originally established in 2005 to sell specialist leather repair products direct to the public . As the company grew, a demand was realised that a large proportion of their customers preferred to have a professional service, rather than to go down the ‘Do It Yourself’ route.

In response, Furniture Clinic launched their first franchise in Gateshead to test the waters. The business grew over the first year to employ three technicians working within the Tyne & Wear area offering a service to repair & restore leather Furniture, Car Interiors, Clothing, Handbags, Antiques and all other items of leather.

The initial franchise in Gateshead was until Jan 2008 when the company decided to launch the franchise model. Two new franchises were set up in Kent & South Wales and ran for a 6 month period as a pilot scheme. Both areas were immediately successful and so Furniture Clinic chose to advertise the opportunity to a wider audience around September 2008.

Since then, the business has set up eleven additional franchises throughout England, bringing the total to fourteen. Furniture Clinic’s Sales Director, Ben Staerck adds; "We chose to sell our franchises at only £7000 so it was an easily affordable amount to most potential franchisees. The reason we chose a small sum was to attract a lot of franchisees to our business, which I’m happy to say has worked."

The company’s plan, once it has achieved nationwide coverage of the UK, is to target national businesses to guarantee work for each of its franchisees. Ben adds; "The potential is enormous, every pub, restaurant, bar, hotel and any other area with public seating areas has leather or vinyl seating, which, at some stage will need to be repaired or replaced. Furniture Clinic can fully restore these areas at a fraction of the cost of replacement or even just repair specific damages such as stains, scuffs or tears."

And this is just one possible route. The company also has plans to target insurance companies, furniture shops & manufacturers, car dealerships, removal companies and many other related businesses who could benefit from the services offered by the Furniture Clinic leather restoration franchise.

Further Information

Franchise Information

BFA Membership Status

UK Years Established
4 years

Current UK Coverage
10%

Franchisee Support Staff
12

Personal Investment Req.
£5,000

Total Startup Cost
£10,000

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20th December 2009
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