The new Martin & Co franchise is owned and managed by Joseph Quaradeghini. Born and brought up in Greenock, and with a degree from what was then Paisley College of Technology (now the University of the West of Scotland), Joseph spent 25 years in civil engineering in Southern Africa, where he also gained extensive experience as a property investor.

Combining his own experience with Martin & Co's state-of-the-art systems and market-leading resources, Joseph - together with administrator Yvonne Nicholson - aims to deliver the most professional lettings and property management service in the Paisley area. A choice of service levels is available to suit individual landlord requirements - ranging from simple tenant-find, through rent collection, to a fully comprehensive property management service, including routine repairs and maintenance using a dedicated team of carefully vetted contractors for complete peace of mind. A range of additional specialist services is also offered, including advice on buy-to-let, credit-referencing of prospective tenants, and help with drawing up tenancy agreements.

Ultimately, however, Joseph is in no doubt what really makes the Martin & Co service a cut above the rest. "As a franchise, our clients enjoy the very best of both worlds: on the one hand, all the benefits in terms of services and support that come from dealing with a major company that is the clear market leader in the sector - not just across central Scotland, but throughout the UK. On the other, the in-depth local knowledge and dedicated, friendly attention you only get from a traditional, locally-based business, where the person serving you has a direct personal stake in ensuring that you enjoy the best possible service!"

Paisley is the fourteenth office to launch in Scotland, with offices stretching from Ayr in the south to Aberdeen in the north.

So, all in all, it looks like an open and shut case for getting down to Martin & Co right away.

Jeremy brings over 20 years of experience in the residential lettings and property management sector and is a well-known figure in property circles in Hampshire and Dorset.  Having started his career as a commercial property manager he moved to LD Property Management in 1993, and was responsible for opening their new office in Bournemouth, Dorset. Jeremy rose quickly through the ranks to become Associate Partner with LD, taking responsibility for its 3 parent offices and 5 franchised outlets. When LD Property Management was purchased by Leaders Jeremy took over the day-today running of one of their largest offices located in Woking, Surrey.

Jeremy will join a team of 3 Operations Directors, who work with the franchisees across the UK network.

John Coupe National Operations Director commented, "Unlike some other franchise offerings out there, we don't simply sell you a package and then walk away. Instead we offer a level of ongoing support that is far and away the best in the industry. In the first 7 months of 2008 alone, we made nearly 300 support visits to existing franchisees."

"Such results are down to a team of highly motivated and driven Operations Directors," he added. "We are very pleased to have secured Jeremy's services. He will be working with franchisees located in the South and the Midlands.

On his new job role, Jeremy commented, "I am delighted to be part of the Martin & Co team. The company has established a superb name and reputation across the country and I am looking forward to playing my part in the next stage of its development."

Jeremy's arrival comes at an exciting time for the Martin & Co network. Not only has the network added over 30 new franchisees, this year taking its total number of offices to 153 but franchise fee income has increased by a remarkable 52% year-on-year.

Married with one child, Jeremy lives in Hampshire and is a keen golfer.

Based in fully-refurbished premises in Church Street, close to the town centre, the new Martin & Co franchise is jointly owned by Sam Zalewski, William Edwards and Gareth Williams. Sam manages the business on a day-to-day basis, with the help of Patricia Amesbury and Emma Donnelly. Between them, Sam and Patricia have extensive experience as property investors and landlords in the area.

"Having been personally involved at the sharp end of the business, we have a very clear understanding of what the lettings market needs in terms of service delivery," says Sam. "Now, with the opening of Martin & Co, landlords and tenants in and around Merthyr finally have access to the kind of specialist expertise, systems and support they deserve."

Unlike many estate agents, Martin & Co deal exclusively in lettings - and they are the biggest in the business nationwide. That's how Sam and his team can be confident that they offer the most comprehensive and professional lettings and property management service in the Merthyr area. A choice of service levels is available to suit individual landlord requirements - ranging from simple tenant-find, to rent collection, to a fully comprehensive property management service, including routine repairs and maintenance using their own team of professionals. Meanwhile, a range of additional specialist services is also offered, including advice on buy-to-let, credit-referencing or prospective tenants, help with drawing up tenancy agreements, and (last, but by no means least) rent guarantees for landlords.

But what really sets the Martin & Co service apart from the competition? Sam is in no doubt. "As a franchise, our clients have the very best of both worlds. On the one hand, they enjoy all the benefits in terms of services and support that come from dealing with a major national brand - the UK market leader in lettings. On the other, they benefit from the in-depth local knowledge and dedicated, friendly attention you only get from a traditional, locally-based business, where the person serving you has a direct personal stake in ensuring that you enjoy the best possible service."

The prospects for the rental market in the Merthyr area are excellent, says Sam. "With all the difficulties being experienced in the housing market at the moment, demand for rented accommodation is very much on the increase. Given this - plus the fact that industry pundits all agree that lettings nationally are set to boom, it's never been a better time to think about becoming a landlord."

All of which looks like an open and shut case for getting down to Martin & Co right away.

Offices are scheduled to open from Brighton in the South to Paisley in Scotland with the target of 30 new offices due to launch before the end of the year, being exceeded.

Ian Wilson Managing Director of Martin & Co (UK) Ltd comments "so far this year the network has delivered a remarkable 52% increase in revenue compared to 2007. Nothing more clearly illustrates the strength of the lettings sector in general - and Martin & Co's business proposition in particular."

So much so Martin & Co's latest campaign has just been launched nationwide to promote private renting as a real alternative to house purchase. The campaign highlights UK house prices follow a predictable cycle of rising prices followed by periods of decline.

"The plain fact is, house prices are dropping fast, and we think the evidence is that they've still got some way to go - anyone buying now will be looking at an almost immediate loss," says Ian. Besides, he adds, any advantage to first-time buyers in terms of reduced prices is being more than outweighed by the fact that banks and building societies are demanding larger deposits - typically around 13%, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The net result of all this is that first time buyers are struggling to save for longer - only to face the possibility of moving into negative equity almost before the ink is dry on their contracts!

Fortunately, the way out of this nightmare scenario is an easy one, says Ian. "Demand for private rented accommodation is soaring, you can move into a new place for a fraction of the up-front costs of purchase. If you already own a property then you could let it out and find a place to rent for your own needs - perhaps to allow you to relocate or for extra room for a growing family. You could also experiment with a different style of property to see if you like it, without risking having to make a long term commitment"

In line with many industry experts, Martin & Co sees this trend as heralding a major structural shift in the way we think about property. The company points out that there is nothing sacrosanct about owning your own home - indeed, it was only as recently as 1971 that owner-occupation passed the 50% mark in Britain. Up until then, renting had always been the norm - as it still is in most parts of continental Europe, where people appreciate that there are far more important things to do with their money at some points in life than tie them up in bricks and mortar.

"Buying property is still a great long term investment. But it works best when you buy at the right price and have tenants pay the mortgage. Buying an over-inflated property for your own occupation can be a trap that it takes years to escape from" says Ian.

Martin & Co has over 133 offices nationwide (and another 17 due to launch before October 2008), is the largest client of CFP Software, with more offices using CFPwinMan than any other agency.

Ian Wilson, Managing Director of Martin & Co (UK) Ltd, said: "As the UK's number one letting agent, we pride ourselves on providing landlords with homes to let or tenants looking at houses to rent with a high level of service. Efficient record keeping and effective client accounting, gained be using CFPwinMan helps the office do just that."

He added: "In times of uncertainty it's good to have business partners you can rely on. We are delighted to be working with CFP Software, the market leaders in providing property management and lettings software to the industry. Their recent ICAEW accreditation is good news for our franchisees and our customers."

Sue Hopson, Best Practices Manager also with Martin & Co (UK) Ltd echoing Ian's views added: "It's refreshing to know that our mutual partner is as focussed on best practice within the industry as we are; in turn providing high level standards and setting the benchmark to which all others aspire."

Franchising has become increasingly attractive to property firms, for a number of reasons: it looks like an easy way to extend the coverage of the network at little extra cost to the franchisor; it places most of the business risk associated with entering a new marketplace on the franchisee: and when the network prospers it strengthens the brand profile for all the franchisor's offices, whether franchised or company-owned.

Particularly attractive to large corporate chains with high infrastructure costs is the fact that franchising enables all expenditure on be-spoke IT systems, website development, multi-tier management and expensive headquarter buildings to be defrayed across a bigger cost base, with the franchisees all paying their share - whether they are trading profitably or not.

The problems can come when the franchisor underestimates the resource implications of supporting a franchise network. By its nature, a franchisor can only open a franchised office where and when it finds a suitable franchisee. Our own business, Martin & Co, now has 135 lettings offices trading around the UK with a further 15 getting ready to open - yet this Dorset-based business opened its first franchise in Northern Scotland!!

And so it goes, with good regional players who take the franchising route finding that they have to support offices pepper-potted across the UK.

The nature of that support changes as well. Franchisees don't want, and shouldn't need, the close supervision that corporates necessarily exert over their company shops. However, franchisees do need enormous support in the early days, with practical help finding the right premises, shop fitting, applying to the banks for funding and "step by step" guidance on all the practical aspects of getting the business assembled. Once they are trading, the emphasis switches to business development: helping find the right staff, continuous training and instantaneous access to technical support.

Regional businesses - even good ones - who see the appeal of the franchising route don't always have this support infrastructure in place. Nor do they necessarily appreciate that if they want to open a lot of new offices quickly, then that support needs to be in place first - in other words, ahead of what will be rising but still low fee income. Is it any wonder that some brands leave behind disgruntled franchisees who feel under-supported and overcharged?

Mixed networks of both franchised and company-owned offices seem to me to hold inherent tensions. If you sell chocolates, you can have your company-owned stores trial "Chilli Surprise" to test public response, before releasing it to your franchise network. Property businesses, on the other hand, are rarely truly innovative, and the use of company shops to "test bed" innovation seems less persuasive. Nevertheless, the suspicion must be that the company-owned offices (where all of the profit, or all of the losses, hit the bottom line) will invariably get priority attention. The franchised offices, by contrast, are all positive contributors: they pay their royalties, their marketing levies and their IT support recharges, whether they are profitable or not.

It was with this in mind that we at Martin & Co took the strategic decision a long time ago to develop our brand solely through franchising. That way, our commercial interests and those of our franchisees are as closely aligned as can be. They keep 91% of the fee income, we get 9%. Both parties benefit from income growth - and I'm pleased to say that last year our franchisees' collective income grew by 43%. So far this year, that figure is 51% higher still.

The other problem with company-owned offices, is the embarrassment that on the one hand you are welcoming new franchisees, while on the other you are closing company shops. If you can't make the business model work yourself, then how can you expect others to have confidence in it?

At the end of a successful franchise, the normal exit is to resell the goodwill to a new franchisee, who picks up the baton and hopefully takes the business on to even greater heights. But what is less considered is the franchisor's exit route. All franchisors reserve the right to sell out to someone else - but when that happens, what guarantees do the franchisees have? Incredibly, a recent sale by a lettings franchisor resulted in its franchisees having to completely re-brand and change the nature of the service they offered. Instead of the centralised client accounting system they had been used to, they had to start doing it themselves. Instead of being lettings specialists, they suddenly had to offer property sales and financial services as well.

This cavalier attitude strikes me as entirely wrong - and fortunately, the courts seem to agree, with a case involving mobile tyre retailing illustrating the point. A franchise operation called Fleet Mobile Tyres wanted to change their brand name to eTyres, to fit in with a revised business model which focused on internet sales. The company insisted that franchisees re-branded their vans and advertising as eTyres, and reduced the Fleet name to small print. The court, however, held this was a ‘derogation' from the grant of the franchise, and therefore unenforceable.

This is as it should be. Franchisees choose the brand, the business system and the culture they want to be associated with. When they do so, they need to be confident that they are choosing a business partner for the long term.

Over the past few years, we at Martin & Co have received a number of offers to buy the business, which remains a private limited company. However we have always followed the same advice we give our franchisees - namely: "Grow the business, staff up, expand, and hold onto the asset to provide a long term rising income." Consequently, none of these offers has been taken up. Nevertheless, our franchisees can be certain that, if the brand were ever to change hands, it would still be "business as usual."

So, if you are contemplating using the brand strength of one of the major franchise groups to protect and develop your business, first make sure you understand the franchisor's own motivation and long term plans. After all, these could seriously impact on your long term wealth.

Views expressed by Ian Wilson Managing Director Martin & Co (UK) Ltd

Drawing on many years' experience in both public and private sector procurement - not to mention his own experience as a property investor locally - Nick aims to bring a whole new level of service to the rental sector in the area. He says "Having been involved in the lettings business myself, albeit on a small scale, I know what both landlords and tenants need in terms of quality service and value for money - and that is precisely what Martin & Co offers."

What makes the Martin & Co service a cut above the rest? Nick is in no doubt. "As a franchise, our clients enjoy the very best of both worlds. On the one hand, all the benefits in terms of services and support that come from dealing with a major company that is the clear market leader in the sector nationally. On the other, the in-depth local knowledge and dedicated, friendly attention you only get from a traditional, locally-based business, where the person serving you has a direct personal stake in ensuring that you enjoy the best possible service."

Combining his own experience with Martin & Co's state-of-the-art systems and market-leading resources - Nick and his staff aim to offer landlords and tenants alike the most comprehensive and professional lettings and property management service in the area. A choice of service levels is available to suit individual landlord requirements - ranging from simple tenant-find, to rent collection, to a fully comprehensive property management service, including routine repairs and maintenance using their own team of professionals.

Meanwhile, a range of additional specialist services is also offered, including information on buy-to-let, credit-referencing of prospective tenants, and help with drawing up tenancy agreements.

The prospects for the rental market in the Bristol area are excellent, Nick says. "With all the difficulties being experienced in the housing market at the moment, demand for rented accommodation is very much on the increase. Given this - plus the fact that industry pundits all agree that lettings nationally are set to boom - there's never been a better time to think about becoming a landlord." So, all in all, it looks like an open and shut case for getting down to Martin & Co right away.

Whatever line of business you plan to get into, without a detailed Business Plan in place, your chances of success, even in the medium term, are seriously compromised. Glaringly obvious? You'd think so - yet thousands of new business ventures founder each year for the lack of such a plan.

This may well sound a bit daunting. However, one of the great advantages of choosing the franchise route is that you should get help in drawing up your business plan - and even in presenting it to the bank. (If this isn't the case, and you are left to your own devices, then you should very quickly ask yourself whether you've chosen the right franchise!)

Many people regard drawing up a business plan purely as a necessary step towards securing funding. Certainly any bank will require one before it will even entertain the idea of financing your venture. Having a properly-constructed plan already in place when you first approach the bank not only enables you to be confident about your intentions and your financial projections, but will also help to impress your bank manager with your business acumen. In other words, you are more likely to receive funding if you prepare in advance.

However, rather than just a one-off document designed to impress others, the real value of a good business plan lies in its ongoing role as a management tool designed to help you monitor and analyse your market; identify and target specific customer groups; price your products and services; and manage all your costs, sales forecasts and marketing.

In other words, it not only gives you a blueprint for success, but also enables you to keep tabs on every key measure of your business on an ongoing basis, and structure the financial side of your business accordingly. It can help you spot potential pitfalls before they happen, as well as providing a template for future development and expansion.

Above all, for your business plan to deliver all of these benefits, it needs to be treated as a living document that needs constantly feeding with new data, expanding, changing and updating as your business grows and develops.

When drawing up a business plan, remember that in essence it has 3 main purposes:

• To identify your business opportunity and your target market
• To set out exactly what products and services you plan to offer, and your strategy for persuading people to do business with you rather than anyone else, and
• To demonstrate how you plan to make money.

Within this framework, your plan can be as simple or as complex as you choose. As a general rule of  thumb, however, it needs to contain the following:

1. An Executive Summary. This is basically a synopsis of all the main points of the plan, and is particularly important when it comes to approaching banks. Given the number of applications they receive, they will often make initial judgements on the basis of this summary alone.
2. A brief description of the business opportunity - who you are, what you plan to sell or offer, why, and to whom.
3. Your marketing strategy - who you are up against, why you think people will buy what you want to sell, how you plan to persuade them to do so, and how you plan to adapt to any changes in the market.
4. Your management team and personnel requirements - identifying your own credentials as a manager and business-owner, the people you need to recruit to work with you, and any training issues.
5. Your operations - your premises, and the advantages/disadvantages of their location; your management information systems; and your IT requirements, both current and projected.
6.  Last and by no means least, your financial forecasts. This effectively means everything you've already said, translated into numbers. In many ways the single most important element of your plan, this should include:

• A statement of how much capital you have, or will need to raise; how you plan to repay any loans, and what security you can provide
• Your planned sources of revenue
• Projected cash balance and cashflow patterns for at least the first 12-18 months
• Sales forecast
• Profit and loss forecast - a detailed statement of the trading position of the business; the level of profit you expect to make (given your projected sales volume) and the costs involved in providing goods and services.

Once you've completed your plan, the important thing is to keep referring to it, and using it. If your franchise business is not performing to your expectations, then re-assessing your business objectives and plans will help improve your results. It doesn't matter how many years you have been in business, a robust and flexible plan will help you improve your profitability and build your business in a structured and achievable manner.

(Taken from the article featured in The Negotiator 11th July 2008 - Comment: Franchising by MD of Martin & Co (UK) Ltd Ian Wilson)

The lettings franchise group is now HomeLet's largest client.

Ian Wilson, Managing Director of Martin & Co, said: "In times of uncertainty it's good to have business partners you can rely on. We are delighted to be working with HomeLet, the principal provider of credit referencing and specialist insurance products to the UK lettings market."

He continued: "A three-year deal allows our franchisees to budget and gives them some great incentives to increase business volumes. As with all our supply arrangements they are entered in to with our franchisees' best interests at heart."

On Monday HomeLet's parent company, EIS, announced that it will be changing its name to Barbon Insurance Group Limited in August as part of a rebranding exercise following a change of ownership.

Commenting on this announcement Mr Wilson said Martin & Co is pleased to be working with HomeLet at such an exciting time. "Following the takeover of EIS, HomeLet and the other EIS-owned insurance businesses now have a more secure future," he said.

"We need to be in a position to provide our clients with fast and accurate solutions to meet their insurance needs. We had no qualms about making a commitment with HomeLet which offers an unrivalled package of products and support."

Marie Scott, the Head of Principal Accounts at HomeLet, has managed the account for four years and has 9 years' experience of the HomeLet product range.

Marie commented: "Martin & Co franchisees benefit from HomeLet's dedicated business development services. Their offices have access to immediate over-the-phone or face- to-face support as and when required, wherever they are in the country, from Truro to Cardiff to Aberdeen.

"Our extensive product training gives their new franchisees immediate credibility with insurance and referencing products in front of the customer."With over 134 franchised offices trading and another 12 preparing to launch Martin & Co has just announced a bumper month with seven new franchise applications in May.

Group revenue is up by 51% year on year so the commercial future for both organisations looks assured.