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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 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.
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