Case Study - Paul Collins
Belvoir's Lincoln franchisee Paul Collins has won a major accolade as the franchise's "Record breaker of the year" for 2006. He has achieved a consistently high turnover throughout the year, the most ever for anyone in the Belvoir network which now has 97 property lettings shops across the UK and Ireland.
And, what makes his achievement all the more astounding is that Paul has broken his own record – the one he set in 2005.
Announcing Paul's success at the awards, Belvoir's co-founder and CEO, Mike Goddard said: "Paul was the fourth person to join us, back in 1996, and has consistently increased his turnover, year on year. He is the first person to smash the record two years running.
"He is the first - and so far the only – person to achieve, consistently, such high sales throughout the year, enabling him to achieve higher growth than anyone else in the network."
Paul Collins became a franchisee after 22 years in the Army. He had always intended to join the police when he left the Services but instead became interested in franchising when he attended a resettlement briefing.Paul explains: "I researched franchising thoroughly before deciding that Belvoir would suit me best. I was chief clerk of my regiment, so I knew I had the skills and attributes that would enable me to run a property management franchise. I'd also had some direct experience, having let my house while on an overseas tour. I received appalling service from the agent and knew I could do better.
"I rang Mike Goddard and asked for an interview – we arranged it there and then. I became a franchisee soon afterwards and made rapid progress.
"Today I have 11 staff taking care of the business, allowing me the time and space to develop it. The rental market is growing very fast as the demand for privately rented homes increases. We already have a substantial portfolio of residential and student properties in and around Lincoln and plan to increase our business by around 50 per cent this year."
