Case Study - Ian Michael and Richard Ball

Ian Michael and Richard Ball formed a partnership in 1997 to take the Countrywide Grounds Maintenance franchise for South Wales. With the help and co-operation of HSBC who still today remain their bankers. Since taking the franchise their workforce has grown from just themselves to 30 staff and the fleet has expanded from 1 vehicle to 12 vehicles, and is now considered one of the largest privately owned grounds maintenance companies in the UK

In their own words: "We have reverted to the tried and tested business principles of going back to the basics of offering a quality service at a value for money price backed up by great after sale service. The fact that we occasionally "go hands on the tools’ means that we can monitor both the quality of the finished work and the working practices of the staff.

"We have managed to overcome much of the competition by networking around our area and by being close to our prospective and existing customers. We often entertain them and this helps to engender our relationship with them so that we all know each other better. This helps both parties as we often go that "extra mile’ to ensure our customers get the service they deserve.

"The Countrywide franchise system gives us many points of difference in that with the local coverage on a national level offer means that we can appeal to both the customer who wants a local contractor and also to the customer who is seeking a wider regional network with a more corporate back-up in terms of meetings, reporting and standards of procedures.

"The franchise business enables our customers to receive a local service on a national level. This means that there is also support for franchisees in the field by utilising staff and machinery where it’s needed most. Central buying organised by the franchisor mean that we can get the best prices (which makes our pricing competitive) whilst still buying locally ensuring that service arrangements can be made."