- Start Up Cost:
- Franchise Type:
- Sector Type:
- Investment Type:
- Market:
- £24,500 + VAT
- Mobile
- Building & Garden Maintenance
- Start-up
- B2B, B2C
Oltco is one of the leading sustainable resin driveway specialists in the UK and Channel Islands
Founded in 2004 as a family business by Tom Stringer and his parents, Christine and Paul Stringer, with an initial focus on anti-slip safety flooring solutions, Oltco quickly began to grow due to sheer determination and hard work. In 2010, Tom was joined by his long-standing friend Johnny Pearce after multiple discussions of running a values-led business together. Now they are the proud Co-Directors of Oltco.
Growing up in Cornwall, Tom and Johnny were becoming increasingly aware of the growing issue of plastic waste littering the Cornish coastlines and with Oltco’s ethos to ‘feel good about the work that we do and the decisions that we make’, they were passionate about taking action to make a positive difference to help combat this global issue.
Tom and Johnny’s mission culminated in the development and launch of the world’s first sustainable resin driveway solution made utilising waste plastic already in circulation. The waste plastic, including straws, drink bottles and food packaging, is carefully blended with stone to form this amazing and innovative new driveway system called Recycle Bound.
Each square metre of Recycle Bound utilises the equivalent of 3,000 plastic straws. Therefore, if Recycle Bound was installed on an average 70 square metre driveway, an incredible 210,000 plastic straws would be recycled.
The launch of Recycle Bound demonstrated Oltco as an industry-leader, disrupting the outdoor flooring solutions industry. Tom and Johnny were recognised for their innovative, forward-thinking approach when they won the South West Entrepreneur Award for Disruptor of the Year in 2019.
Following the success of Recycle Bound, Tom and Johnny continued to consider new sustainable solutions and after two years of intensive development processes, Oltco expanded its sustainable product offering with Recycle Base.
Recycle Base is an innovative ground reinforcement system made utilising low-grade plastic, including ocean waste plastic.
Oltco’s HQ in Newquay is a dedicated drop off point for ocean plastic collected from local beach cleans. Oltco then takes this plastic and utilises it within its Recycle Base product.
The average surface installation is 70m² and by using Recycle Base, this would utilise the equivalent of a tonne of waste ocean plastic, which is the same as recycling an amazing 175 million plastic straws.
It was incredibly important to Tom and Johnny that Recycle Base could be recycled at the end of its useful life so they designed it in a way that allows the top resin bound or Recycle Bound layer to be broken away from the base to then be reused into a new Recycle Base system and therefore contribute to the circular economy.
Oltco’s major commitment to developing sustainable products saw it recognised as a Sustainability Warrior at the 2021 bfa HSBC British Franchising Awards. The category was created specifically for Oltco due to its world-first product offering.
Oltco has worked on a range of domestic and commercial projects including; The Eden Project, RHS Garden Harlow Carr and Carbis Hotel. Oltco has also partnered with Exeter City Council and Plymouth University regarding its Recycle Base product.
Oltco invested in a leading UK and European Support Business, PartnerWise Franchise. Managing Partner and Founder of PartnerWise Franchise, Nick Carnes, felt so strongly about Oltco’s ethos and culture, Tom and Johnny’s plans to introduce world-first products, and the overall growth potential of the business that he decided to invest in Oltco and became the Franchise Director.
After the successful launch of Oltco Blackpool in 2019, Oltco’s franchise network quickly took off.
From 2019 to the beginning of 2020, Oltco expanded its franchise offering by an unbelievable 450% and in the space of three years has built a network of over 50 franchises.
Oltco doesn’t limit itself with an ‘ideal Oltco franchisee’ and has welcomed franchisees with a range of experiences and backgrounds. The core values and the culture of the growing network was without doubt the most important factor in Oltco’s recruitment.
Oltco’s franchising opportunity has been recognised nationally as a leader and a pioneer in the resin bound market across the UK and Channel Islands, being named one of the UK’s top franchising opportunities in the prestigious Elite Franchise, EF100 awards in 2020.
Oltco has fostered a culture of support for its franchise network, ensuring that each franchisee has exactly what they need in order to grow their own business.
Oltco employed a dedicated Franchise Business Coach in 2021, Geoff Djan, who works with each franchisee to help set personalised goals and targets and regularly reviews these to ensure that they are on track.
Support for Oltco’s franchisees encompasses everything from generating and qualifying leads, invoicing, ordering and after sales care and marketing support. Franchisees also work closely with their dedicated Account Manager to help take the pressure off of organising the delivery of materials and converting leads.
Each month, Oltco awards one franchisee with a Got Your Back Award. This person is nominated by another member of the network to recognise ways in which they have gone above and beyond to help the network. This is an important way Oltco recognises individuals in the network and as a result has fostered a strong and supportive franchise family.
Oltco’s franchising opportunity has been recognised nationally, being named one of the UK’s top franchising opportunities in the Elite Franchise, EF100 awards in 2020.
Oltco prides itself on delivering informative and engaging training to ensure that each franchisee has the skills required to grow a successful business.
The training consists of three days on site at its Bournemouth install training centre, and three days at Oltco’s headquarters in Newquay. This is carried out over two weeks – three days each week.
The three days of training at the Oltco Bournemouth installation training centre consists of:
Day one: the Classroom Day where franchisees will learn all about Operations essentials, site set up, people-centred and professional health and safety, pre- production essentials and so much more.
Day’s two and three will be spent carrying out practical training on site.
After this first week, franchisees will need to complete a further three to five days training on site. Franchisees need to have a minimum of five days training in total and potentially more if needed.
Office based training will take place in Newquay, this will include: sales systems, running through the sales manual, company photography, meeting our marketing team, an office support overview and going through Oltco’s vision and values. Franchisees meet their Account Manager who will be the franchisee’s personal point of contact and support.
Every franchisee has access to the Operations Manual. This is a guide to Oltco’s policies and procedures. This includes an introduction to Oltco, a guide to Oltco’s sale system and information on the installation process.
When a franchisee joins the Oltco network, they have access to Oltco’s marketing agency. They will work with the franchisee to ensure the launch process is a success, once the launch period is over, the marketing agency will be on hand to work with the franchisee on lead generation and brand awareness in their area.
The franchisee role is varied day-to-day and is a balance of office and site work.
Franchisees are responsible for driving sales and managing the day-to-day running of the business whether this is on-site, on the road networking, meeting potential clients or carrying out admin duties.
Franchisees will carry out site visits to pre-assess areas before a quote is provided for driveway installations and groundworks. The franchisee will meet the client and go through the Oltco sales process with them, informing them of all of the options available that are available to them and working with the client to ensure the process is easy and stress free.
The franchisee will also have a team of installers that they manage. On a day-to-day basis they will be responsible for organising the team and managing their roles and workload.
Rob Wilson has gone from strength to strength since launching his first Oltco franchise back in March 2020. Within a period of less than 12 months, Rob went from setting up Bournemouth to taking on six additional franchise areas in the Southampton, Isle of Wight, Poole and Salisbury areas after receiving an impressive return on investment. Following on from this success, Rob has also taken on a further two areas, Basingstoke and Dorchester – taking his total number of areas to seven.
As an already experienced businessman running several successful landscaping, marine and retail businesses, Rob has the skills needed to continue growing his Oltco franchise business. He has curated an impressive portfolio of stunning resin bound installations and has delivered excellence when it comes to customer service.
Within just two years, Oltco has become the leading business across the areas in which Rob operates and he has trained a talented team of experts who work alongside him to deliver excellence.
Rob Wilson says: “I am proud to be part of an exciting, recognisable and trusted brand. It feels great to work with, and represent, a business that is committed to making the world a better place and as soon as I heard about Recycle Bound, I knew I wanted to be a part of this.
The support I have received from Oltco’s Directors Tom and Johnny and the rest of the network has been outstanding which is why I feel so confident to own seven Oltco franchise areas.”
Oltco is a business which values and embraces family partnerships. Brian Wright heads up Oltco’s Gloucester and Cheltenham alongside his daughter Harriet, a tight knit relationship which shines through on each project.
With over 30 years in the construction trade, Brian was well placed to use his existing skillset to set up Oltco Gloucester back in 2019 and bring Harriet into the business to work alongside him.
After growing across Gloucester at a fast pace with a high rate of return, the father and daughter duo invested in the Cheltenham area in 2021 seeing similar potential for growth.
Brian’s knowledge and experience has allowed him to provide sound ongoing training for his daughter and their team so that they can, together, create outstanding resin bound transformations which Oltco has become renowned for.
Brian comments: “Owning an Oltco franchise was a great next step for me after coming out of the construction industry, as it wasn’t too far from the trade that I knew and had built a solid reputation from.
What stood out for me, and an ethos which shines through Oltco, was the commitment towards sustainability. As a business, Oltco Gloucester and Cheltenham has committed to offsetting its carbon footprint with the Carbon Footprint Scheme, which sees 5% of the business profits go towards planting trees.”
Phil joined the Oltco network in 2019 after spending a decade working in engineering and business development. With a true entrepreneurial spirit, Phil was seeking an opportunity that would provide him with the opportunity to utilise his existing skills whilst also building, and running, a successful business of his own.
After a successful first two years running Oltco Liverpool, Phil wanted to build on his portfolio and took on a second area – Oltco Wirral. The growth of the business has given Phil the opportunity to provide jobs for local people and to help give back to the local community.
As an established brand in the area, Phil and his team have become known for outstanding results and regularly receive excellent feedback as well as word of mouth recommendation across Liverpool and Wirral.
Phil says: “I have always wanted to be my own boss and the Oltco franchise opportunity has provided me with the chance to do this, whilst also having a supportive team around me. Having Tom, Johnny and Nick by my side to provide advice whenever required has been invaluable and has played a huge part in the success of Oltco Liverpool and Wirral.”
Raj is Oltco’s first solo female franchise and runs Oltco Peterborough and Oltco Stevenage.
Before joining the network in 2022, Raj previously supported her husband’s solicitor firm and was looking for an opportunity to utilise her strengths to grow a business on her own. Oltco’s sustainable offering with Recycle Bound and Recycle Base attracted Raj to the franchise opportunity and she hasn’t looked back since.
With the construction and home improvement sectors being traditionally male dominated, Raj is hoping to empower other women to enter the industry and is a shining example of the success which can be achieved.
In a short space of time, Raj has already built a portfolio of resin bound transformations and is providing job opportunities for local people, including running an apprenticeship scheme for young individuals.
Raj comments: “As soon as I learnt about Oltco and its offering I knew it was a company I wanted to be a part of. I am extremely passionate about always offering my customers the best and Oltco provides me with the opportunity to do this. The Oltco team is committed to sourcing the best materials in order to ensure we are standing head and shoulders above competitors, and this is highlighted in the quality of our resin bound installations.”
At the age of just 22, Liam Dorian was one of the first franchisees to join the Oltco network when he took on Colchester in 2019 and is the youngest franchisee to date.
Fast forward three years and Liam has taken on a second area, Ipswich, and is known across Essex and Suffolk for his fantastic resin bound installations – often also completing work for new franchisees who join Oltco.
Before launching Oltco, Liam previously worked as a duct installer, responsible for the safe installation of the HVAC units and as a kitchen fitter.
Liam knew the opportunity to launch an Oltco franchise was not to be missed because of the company’s ethos to feel good about the work they do and the decisions they make.
Since launching, Liam has provided job opportunities for local people as well as offering a successful apprenticeship scheme that has helped young people gain qualifications whilst earning.
Liam says: “Joining the Oltco network was the best business decision I could have made. It has provided me with the opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience by connecting with others in the business who have a varied skillset. In addition to this, the support provided from Oltco’s Account Managers has ensured I can focus on growing my business across Ipswich and Colchester whilst they provide support for customer service and the admin tasks.”
Adam Johnson, Jamie Osborne and Jon Osborne were the first franchisees to take on multiple areas from the word go.
Brothers Jamie and Jon have experience in the franchise hospitality sector running Pizza Hut and Subway franchises and over the years have learnt from experience what makes a good franchising opportunity. It is because of this that they were confident that investing in Oltco was a wise business choice and decided to take on both Redditch & Solihull and Worcester & Kidderminster alongside their childhood friend, Adam.
After 18 months of successfully building the two areas and seeing a great return on investment, the trio decided to take on a third area – Leamington Spa.
The knowledge and varied experience from the three business partners has meant they are perfectly equipped with driving Oltco forward across their areas and have quickly grown to be a leading business in their community.
Jamie says: “After 15 years running our Pizza Hut and Subway franchises, myself and Jon were looking for our next opportunity and wanted one that we could bring Adam in on. Oltco has strong family values, and the sustainability offering is unmatched by any other business in the industry. Because of this, we knew that this would be a great investment for us and was a business we were confident would fly. Fortunately, we were right and we are delighted with the growth already achieved and look forward to this continuing.”
Robert Paterson is the first franchisee to launch Oltco outside of the UK and to take the brand to the Channel Islands.
Aged just 25, when Robert was seeking his next business opportunity, he discovered Oltco and immediately spotted the potential the business had in Jersey. Robert’s passionate and ambitious approach makes him the perfect person to grow Oltco to be the leading resin bound supplier on the island and since launching in 2021, he is already achieving this.
Robert’s determination, attention to detail and commitment to delivering excellence has helped Oltco to rapidly grow across the Channel Islands with Robert achieving excellent customer feedback.
Robert comments: “Growing up on the island means that I am familiar with the local business landscape and what works well. I immediately knew that Oltco had the potential to really take off in the Channel Islands and my instincts were correct. The business is growing rapidly, and we are already leading the industry and becoming known across the island. For me, Oltco provided a solid foundation to build a fantastically successful business.”
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