With an established network and mature brand, we strive to deliver support to our network with sharing best practice, excelling at what we do best; bespoke learning and development opportunities to inspire personal and business growth, along with empowering our franchisees to expand their reach and earning potential via organic growth with our hub and spoke model.
As a franchisor, our main aims are to support and empower our network and their teams to instil confidence and success, therefore we were excited to launch our Learning Management System in Q3 of last year after a period of scoping, planning and building, allowing us to address some of the training and development needs of our network.
With 50+ courses currently available out of the 200+ we will be creating, our courses cover health and safety, bespoke products and production methods, sustainability and waste management, materials and installation, marketing, accounting and design, along with soft skills topics such as team management, customer service, motivation, mentoring and more.
Allowing our franchisees and their teams to access the e-learning platform at any time and from anywhere, it offers freedom and flexibility allowing the individual to learn at their own pace and at a time that suits them.
Our courses offer an interactive learning experience, with quizzes, videos and an industry specific hands-on approach. With a topical focus course each month addressing essential day-to-day challenges and technological advances, we also offer an incentive scheme and league tables for those with a competitive edge.
Offering a consistent approach to learning and best practice, it helps empower our network to widen their skill sets and build their industry knowledge, inspiring personal growth and development within our centres, creating our next generation of Senior Managers and potential franchisees.
Hearing from our network we’re thrilled to hear such positive feedback after just a few months of being introduced: “The learning management system has been a game changer for me and the team, allowing us to pick and choose our courses at a time that suits us, also allowing us to dip in and out of courses where we may need a refresher. It has also created a bit of healthy competition amongst the network as we all strive to be top of the table!”
Gregg Hinchcliffe, Centre Manager, Signs Express (Dartford)
“The fresh content and constant addition of new modules has made it easier than ever to assist staff at all levels to develop their knowledge and skill set in their respective roles.”
Craig Barske, Centre Manager, Signs Express (Reading & Farnborough)
Continuing the theme of investment in learning and development we’ve introduced a number of bespoke face-to-face hands-on training sessions throughout the year to encourage sharing of best practice, networking across the teams and personal development. Accompanied by an evening celebration of dinner and drinks, our courses include installation training, sign making, marketing and sales. Plus, to create a support network for our growing list of apprentices, we’ll also be having monthly online training sessions allowing them to discuss key learnings, their progress through their modules and their aspirations for the future.
Expansion across the network
With a well-established network with an excellent reputation across the UK, it felt essential to offer expansion opportunities for our franchisees to ensure continuous growth and development opportunities for those with the drive and ambition to propel their businesses forwards and take their turnover to the next level.
Creating a hub and spoke business model, we are now seeing more of our centres branching out into their neighbouring territories, allowing them to expand their reach, widen their customer base and demonstrate profitable business growth via our cost-effective model. Whilst we’re always looking for new talent to join our network whether that be via our startup model or via our resales, it’s also critical for us to generate a forward-thinking model to keep our existing network evolving. With a number of our centres already operating under the new model, we now have key learnings under our belt and we’re thrilled to have enquiries for further expansion into 2024 and beyond.
Expanding his business after just 12 months ownership, we hear from Kris Bell, owner of Signs Express (Aylesbury & High Wycombe): “I’m really pleased with where the business has been heading and the progress we’ve made as a team, so I felt ready for the next step in my Signs Express journey by venturing into the new hub and spoke model. Via business modelling, area research and ensuring we’ve got the right team in place, so far, I’m thrilled with the progress we’re making in High Wycombe and I’m excited for the year ahead.”
We’ve got a packed-out agenda for 2024 as we continue to put our plans into practice and follow the growth journey of both our franchisees and their teams, be it through personal development or business growth. I’m sure we’ll navigate the odd curveball along the way, but we’re optimistic for another strong year of progress and strong results!
This article comes courtesy of Signs Express, (Signs Express – The Signs & Graphics Company for the UK & Ireland) the UK and Ireland’s largest signs and graphics franchise offering bespoke solutions to customer for over 35 years.
