Recognition Express Franchise, Advertising & Media Franchises

Recognition Express

Recognition Express - British Franchise Association's Franchise of the Year 2003

Recognition Express has been successfully operating franchises in corporate recognition and promotional products since 1979. Recognition Express is the most successful franchise network for the sector in the UK, with over 45 franchisees in the UK and Europe.

Supplying branded business gifts and personalised promotional products, name badges, staff awards, posters and signs plus a full range of branded clothing to businesses, schools and organisations in the UK. The opportunity is huge with an, established and growing market worth in excess of £3 billion per annum

Recognition Express is the UK’s market leader with over 30 years of experience in the business. Franchisees that are hard working, ambitious and driven, with good ‘people skills’ are well suited to the ethos of the company.

As a successful company operating in the business to business sector Recognition Express has been a full member of the bfa since 1980, and is a past winner of the bfa Franchisor of the Year award.

Walk around your local area and see the opportunities everywhere for signs, badges, clothing, large format colour posters, promotional products, corporate gifts and awards. The market is massive, and the good news is that the majority of the business is repeat business.

Recognition Express Franchise Owners pride themselves on the excellent long-term relationships, even friendships, which they build in their everyday working lives.

Training and Support

How we support you

It’s you who makes the key decisions in your franchise business, but you are not on your own because we are always on hand with help and advice, business planning, financial planning, marketing programmes, training and much more.

As part of the largest franchise network for corporate merchandise and recognition products you benefit from our considerable purchasing power. We get the very best products from the very best suppliers, keeping you one step ahead of the competition.

Recognition Express franchisees benefit from:

Extensive marketing support
Centralised marketing programmes
Integrated business planning
On-going training and support
In-house procurement services
A range of equipment

Franchise training

The training is comprehensive and extensive. Your three week training will cover all the key business areas – marketing, sales, finance, business planning, production, products, pricing etc.

What our franchisees say......

“ At the end of my first year I decided to move into commercial premises to enable even further growth for the business. I have achieved 25% net profit, have cash in the bank and believe that I can go from strength to strength. ”

Kevin Andrews, Recognition Express Taunton

“ The support has been first class with excellent material and an ever improving range of centralised marketing programmes. I can see significant growth into my fourth year and having taken on an extra resource am aiming to take the business to the next level of £300,000 over the next 12 months.”

Sally Findlay, Recognition Express Mid Surrey

Equipment

Equipment is installed directly into your home or business unit to help you meet customer orders from day one, you will receive a comprehensive stock package.

Additionally many products are held in stock by RE distribution, our own warehouse and distribution service to ensure immediate dispatch and to allow you to respond to customers- ‘on-demand’.

Marketing

Recognition Express has extensive marketing experience in the business to business field, and also internally retains the services of a Marketing Agency to work with our Head of Marketing to co-ordinate activities.

Centrally designed, managed and implemented direct marketing programmes form the backbone of the Recognition Express marketing system.

These are augmented by high quality literature, marketing tools and ongoing training designed to drive business growth, client contact and brand awareness.

Constantly on the lookout for new exciting products and innovations, we invest both the time and money in on-going new product development programmes and in constant R&D, across the whole product range.

Support across the business

Support includes:

Business planning
Centralised marketing programmes
On going training
Financial planning
‘Fastrak’ market launch
Regional meetings
Weekly newsletters
Monthly marketing and product bulletins
Dedicated extranet for the network
Help and advice lines
Franchisee websites
Specific new owner’s meetings
Company conference
And more…

Financial Information

What does a Recognition Express franchise cost?

Total package, including our franchise fee - £30,000 plus vat (vat reclaimable in your first trading quarter) A typical bank loan is £20,000 Your investment is therefore only £10,000

Initial franchise package includes:

3 Weeks Training
Fastrak market launch
CDMP – for 12 months
Equipment
Initial Stock and samples
Presenters and Sales Aids
Marketing Database (Team Visual), Software & Materials
Sage Accounting Software
Training
Immediate installation at your home or office

Who's Ideal for Us

Who is Recognition Express looking for?

There is no ideal franchisee profile. Existing Recognition Express franchise owners come from a variety of backgrounds, all with their own specific skills, including company directors, nurses, an airline flight attendant, sales executives and marketing managers.

However, there are three qualities that are a must.

You must be a ‘people person’ – comfortable sitting in front of, talking to and befriending people.
You must be willing to follow a system.
You must be prepared to work hard

We want the best

Recognition Express will provide you with everything you need to ensure a successful start to your franchise business. Our philosophy is quite simple; “We want the best”.

Territories/Locations

In the Recognition Express nationwide network of franchise areas, there are numerous vacancies covering most parts of the UK.

In addition there are Master Franchise opportunities available in France and the Benelux countries.

Franchise resale possibilities are also open to offers from time to time so if you have any interest then please make contact, outlining your particular area of interest.

Business Description: Recognition Express - Manufacture and supply of business gifts, name badges and corporate merchandise.

Industry Sector: Promotional Products

BFA Membership: Full Member

Franchise Type: Management

Minimum Personal Investment: £ 10,000

Minimum Total Investment: £ 30,000

Janet Matthews
Unit 2, Cartwright Way
Forest Business Park
Bardon, Coalville
Leicestershire
LE67 1UB

Tel: 01530 513 300
Fax: 01530 513 309
Web: www.recognition-express.com

Name: Stuart Fisher, Recognition Express Harrow

Commenced Trading: January 2008

Previous Job: Finance Director- Exhibition & Conference Venue

Why did you choose Recognition Express?

I always fancied running my own business in some shape or form and following a management buy-out I decided I did not want to look back in 10 years and wish I had taken the plunge. I researched purchasing my own business and found that was far too risky for a man with a wife, mortgage and two kids! I then started looking at franchises and went up to Birmingham for the National Franchise Exhibition. I wanted to move away from finance and do something different and came across Recognition Express. After having a good chat with Nigel Toplis, managing director, I thought the franchise had a good connection to the business I had been involved in for the last few years. So after discussing it with my wife, who thought I was having a mid life crisis, I took a bungee jump out of my comfort zone and purchase a franchise with Recognition Express in December 2007.

How have you found the training and support given by Recognition Express?

I can honestly say that the organisation does everything it says on the label: comprehensive initial training with refreshers if needed; great support from head office in terms of technical, marketing and sourcing enquiries; and a very helpful network amongst the other 46 franchise owners.

In addition there are quarterly meetings with Nigel Toplis the managing director, which have been hugely valuable in helping me to focus on my business in the right direction. He is a great sounding board for new ideas and opportunities. Recognition Express is providing me with the base on which I can build a successful franchise business, to achieve my personal and business goals.

How do you see your business progressing?

At present there’s just myself and my wife Bev part-time. I’m planning on bringing Bev more into the business as the kids become more independent. We’ve hit our first year target of £75,000 of sales (in 10 months) and we’d like to double our turnover and our profit in 2009. I would also like to double the number of clients wanting repeat orders and in 5 years time I would like to have built the business up to £500,000 turnover with a database of 200-300 repeat business clients.

What advice would you give to someone just about to commence their first year as a franchisee?

Enjoy it and work hard. Plan your time carefully because there are a million different jobs to do, from sales and marketing, to accounting, credit control and invoicing. Make sure you get your invoices out on time and keep a watchful eye on your cash flow. Lastly, network as much as possible!

For more information, please call: 01530 513300 or email : franchise@recognition-express.com