50 jobs in prospect as franchise looks to new territory

May 20 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

ABIN cleaning franchise is to be rolled out in the North East and promises to create about 50 jobs by next year.

Norfolk company VIP Bin Cleaning has sold the licence to its North East operations to County Durham franchise advice group Be Franchising, which will see it add 20 businesses to the three already in the region.

The Shildon support group, in its first franchise, will provide funding to budding entrepreneurs that want to be part of the successful cleaning company, which has operations as far away as Australia.

The franchises usually run with two to three staff, with a high proportion of husband and wife teams taking up the opportunity. Be Franchising business franchise development manager Brian Jackson said: “As well as offering help and guidance, we wanted to be proactive and offer a good quality franchising opportunity for people across the region.

“It is now our intention to try and remove any barriers that people may have had previously when considering the franchise route to self-employment.

“Research has told us that finance is the biggest barrier to people going into franchising. Now that Be Franchising owns the licence to trade under the VIP brand in the North East, we can help overcome these concerns.

“This is a unique move by a support agency like ourselves with the aim of rapidly boosting enterprise and helping to launch new businesses.”

It is also the first venture the Government-funded support group has offered people outside its key areas – Derwentside, Easington, Sedgefield and Wear Valley.

VIP Bin Cleaning has helped create about 80 franchises worldwide, including operations in Easington, Stockton and County Durham. The company also has franchises in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Mark Harvey, managing director at VIP Bin Cleaning, which was formed in 1997 and won the HSBC Award for Enterprise at the Franchiser of the Year Awards in 2006, said: “We are delighted to welcome Be Franchising into the VIP stable and congratulate them on their proactive way of boosting enterprise in the North East.

“Those wanting to start a franchise in the North East have a head start as they have the support of both VIP and Be Franchising.”