Case Study - Maureen and Carl Artis

I was in the army for 30 years, latterly working in military facilities management. My wife Maureen was a Chiropodist until the government changed some rules and regulations; we decided to look for something we could do together.

After leaving the army I wanted to go into business for myself and considered franchising to have a much lower risk/failure rate.

We looked at lots of franchises, we finally decided on furniture restoration as it was something both my Maureen and I could do ‘hands on’, we also found it offered very good support once you were up and running.

I now really enjoy the franchise Furniture Medic, as every day is different.

We enjoy being able to arrange our working days/weeks to suite our own requirements. It gives us much greater flexibility to plan our lives.

ServiceMaster and Furniture Medic are continually seeking new national contracts; they provide good technical support that can be called on for advice on any job.

Both my wife and I work within the business; we both carry out all aspects of furniture repair and restoration. Our son provides casual help, he cleans the van and helps lift heavier furniture.

I would encourage anyone who is looking for a franchise of this type to certainly see if there are any areas available.