Case Study - Anna and Jim Harbridge
33-year-old, dad-to-be, Jim Harbridge has stepped into a new life. One made up of vans, veg boxes and organic food. Just three weeks into his ‘fledgling’ business (a fully developed franchise bought from his predecessors), he has to complete no less than 13 delivery rounds in a week, learn the names of streets he never knew existed, and greet hundreds of people he’s never met before – his customers.
“It’s a big change from working in marketing and PR, and certainly hectic at the moment,” says Jim. “But it won’t always be like this. It’s just that all of my drivers decided to go on holiday at the same time…just when I started! The great thing is I’m getting to know the rounds. And although that means working from dawn to dusk, I’m out and about and learning fast.”
Jim considered buying the Riverford Organic Portsmouth territory when he heard that the previous franchisees were ready to sell. “Paul and Sue had been running the business for seven years before I took over,” says Jim. “For five of those years, my wife Anna and I were loyal customers, getting our weekly veg boxes delivered by them. We loved the quality and taste of the food, and we’d found Riverford to be a forward-thinking company – always introducing new products and services, including my favourite…the barbecue box with organic cider and burgers!
Since negotiating a price for the franchise with Paul, Jim has been through a comprehensive training programme at Riverford’s head office in Devon to learn about running his organic food delivery business from the ground up. He also went out on the road with Paul to get to grips with the rounds and meet some of the customers.
