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Business founded in Newbury in 1895 celebrates....

A chimney sweeping business founded in Newbury in 1895 is celebrating 10 years as a successful franchise operation.   All the information you need is in the release below and I have attached a photo of Jon McDougall who owns the local Newbury franchise.

If you need any further information, please don't hesitate to ask.

Kind regards

Louise

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Louise Bruce

Big Red Box PR

www.bigredboxpr.com

louise@bigredboxpr.com

01242 245 137

0787 602 6432

 

5 October 2021

Press release - for immediate release

 

A chimney sweeping business founded in Newbury in 1895, celebrates 10 years as a franchise operation

Wilkins Chimney Sweep, founded by Tom Wilkins from Newbury in 1895, is celebrating 10 years as a franchise operation, by releasing a commemorative eBook.

Full of historic photos, facts, figures and funny stories, the eBook has been designed to highlight the company's journey to franchising success over the last 10 years. The eBook can be viewed here: https://www.franchisechimneysweep.co.uk/ebook

Keeping true to its roots the company still has a chimney sweep in West Berkshire, Jon McDougall, who covers from Newbury to Marlborough and Didcot to Amesbury and all points in-between.

Wilkins currently has 18 franchise owners covering 29 territories in 27 vans across the United Kingdom. In 2021 they hit record trading figures and received over 10,000 five-star reviews on TrustPilot.  They are also the only chimney sweeping operation who are currently a member of the British Franchise Association (bfa), which is the original and largest not-for-profit trade association for franchising in the UK. 

The business was franchised under the ownership of Louise and Peter Harris in 2011.  In 2018 Darren Taylor purchased the business, bringing it into the Taylor Made Franchising group alongside Stumpbusters, PVC Vendo, Thomas Cleaning Franchise and Iconic Window Cleaning.

David Callister, franchise director at Taylor Made Franchising who owns Wilkins Chimney Sweep said,

"As a business with such a long history, Wilkins Chimney Sweep is doing incredibly well, seeing significant growth despite Covid. We have recently welcomed three new franchisees to the network and are expecting a third more vans on the road this year than in 2020; not bad for a company who used to deliver their services by bike around Newbury over 126 years ago."

He continued,

"Working with the team at Wilkins Chimney Sweep is an absolute joy; they are such an incredibly positive, supportive network of franchisees, that it is a genuine pleasure to be able to celebrate this, their 10th anniversary with them, and to share their history in this fun and we hope, informative e-book. I wish old ladies would give me a 10p tip to go and treat myself!"

Wilkins Chimney Sweep is run on a day-to-day basis by franchise manager Lisa Kimber and operations manager Richard Bryan.

Lisa said,

"I count myself as very lucky to work with the guys at Wilkins Chimney Sweep. Our franchisees come from extremely varied backgrounds, from gym owners to chartered surveyors and from lorry drivers to policemen, but they all have one thing in common, they all wanted to regain control of their lives, spend more time with their families and be in charge of their own diaries. Some of them are happy being owner operators, whereas others are buying up multiple territories and employing staff, edging towards the management franchise model and it is a joy to see them all grow their businesses the way they want to.  Our franchisees may be sooty at the end of the day but ultimately, they're happy. Some of their stories in the e-book really made me laugh, particularly the y-fronts one - full marks for him keeping a straight face.  I'm thrilled to be part of Wilkins' 10th anniversary and look forward to onboarding many new franchisees over the next ten years as well."

 

ENDS                                                                                                                                                     OCTOBER 2021

About Taylor Made Franchising

 

Taylor Made Franchising is owned by Darren Taylor.  The company owns the following franchise organisations:

 

Contact details:

Big Red Box PR Ltd. Registered in England No.08021933.  109 Naunton Crescent, Cheltenham, GL53 7BE 01242 245 137louise@bigredboxpr.com  0787 602 6432 www.bigredboxpr.comDirector: Louise Bruce VAT No: 141139249