Loretta Hopley is the franchisee of the Francesco Group salon in Northwich. Becoming a business owner was a natural progression for her, following a long career in salons.
In hairdressing for over 25 years, Loretta started as a stylist at Francesco Group in 2002, working her way up to senior stylist, then master colour expert and salon trainer. She then completed her management training and in 2006 opened her first salon.
Loretta explained: “I was ready to take the next step, as I’d fulfilled my goals as a hairdresser and was ready to learn the business side of the salon and train and invest in my own staff. I’d learnt to be a good leader as a salon trainer and this gave me the skills and motivation to lead my team to success.”
Francesco Group is known as a family brand and Loretta’s salon in Northwich certainly supports that ethos: in 2009 Loretta’s partner Allan joined the team as front of house manager; shortly followed by her daughter, Nicola as a salon stylist.
Loretta is pleased to be able to support others the way that she herself benefited from the brand’s model. “I chose Francesco Group as I believe in the brand and share their passion and dedication to training,” she says. “My progress in my own career would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the investment from my franchisee at the time. I knew I wanted to follow on this investment with my own team and achieve excellence in my own salon.
“The support I receive from Francesco Group is second to none; there is business training and head office support every step of the way, which provides me with all the essential services I need to be successful, for example, accounts, marketing and payroll. I would never go it alone, in the group there are 39 other franchisees to call upon if I ever need advice or another opinion, plus a franchisor that fully supports me – that is invaluable to my business.”
Due to growing demand, Loretta recently invested over £100,000 to completely refurbish the salon and create a bespoke, high-class salon destination, renowned for fantastic hairdressing and the best customer service.
She says continually progressing is vital to her success: “We are constantly looking at our business and trying to find new ways to do something or look at what can be improved. In our industry you have to keep learning; it’s so important to keep up to date with trends, products, techniques etc. We’re on the outskirts of big cities like Manchester and Liverpool, so we can’t get comfortable, we’ve got to keep up to compete with those city centre salons.”
The Northwich salon is now one of the most successful in the Group and has won the title of ‘Salon of the Year’ at Francesco Group’s annual business awards for the last three years running; consistently surpassing profit targets, increasing sales by over 34% and client visits by 25%.
