In 2019, East Anglia became the first Revive! territory to reach £1m regarding annual turnover. Surrey followed shortly afterwards, before Northampton and Trafford became the latest two Revive! regions to join this exclusive million pound club. However, at the start of their Revive! journeys, none of this quartet of franchisees even thought about reaching this elevated milestone.
While East Anglia and Surrey started with a single van and grew, the owners of Trafford and Northampton were originally technicians working for other franchisees within the Revive! network, before deciding to purchase their own territories. But the one thing they all had in common was their desire for hard work, combined with the first-class support, mentoring and training they received from Revive!’s head office team.
East Anglia’s story
When he launched Revive! Cambridge in 2007, Nathan Holmes wanted to build his business and be more than simply ‘a man in a van’. Within five years he had built a fleet of five vans, smashing every Revive! sales record en route.
At this stage he invited employee Andy Blackhurst, along with good friend Adam Holmes (who is no relation), to become shareholders in the business. Together they purchased adjacent territories to create Revive! East Anglia. Now, 17 years on, East Anglia employs 22 people, has 10 vans, 17 technicians and two workshops.
Adam said: “This is a great franchise model but sometimes it’s that drive of competition that makes you want to be the best. You want to be the best in customer service, as well as quality of repair. It’s competition within the network that motivates us to always want to be at the top.” East Anglia is now well on its way to posting an annual turnover of £2m.
Surrey’s story
The owner of Revive!’s Surrey territory, Jay Belam, used to be a sergeant in the army before launching his business in Guildford 14 years ago. He now has 20 employees, 10 vans, one workshop, and 17 technicians. He says: “What drove me then, and still drives me today, is the need to achieve more each and every day.
“Whatever the customer’s question we always strive to say ‘yes’. And whatever the problem that faces us, we’ll always offer the customer a solution.” Jay opened Revive!’s first dedicated alloy wheel repair centre, which was also the first alloy wheel repair business anywhere in Surrey.
Northampton’s story
Iain Wallis began his career as a trainee technician at Revive!’s academy in Rugby. He then joined Revive! Northampton as a technician, before being invited by the owner to become a business partner. In 2016, he secured sole ownership of the territory in a buy-out.
Iain currently has 10 employees and says he is delighted when his staff members become successful enough to “buy their own homes and start families. I find that really rewarding.”
Trafford’s story
The newest members of the £1m turnover club are the husband and wife team of Dan and Natalie Normanton in Trafford. Before launching their own business 16 years ago, Dan worked as a technician in a neighbouring Revive! territory.
He quickly realised he wanted to start his own business, so when their first child was born the couple purchased a territory. This seemed the ideal route for building a stable financial future for their family. Revive! Trafford employs nine people and has eight vans.
And Natalie Normanton acknowledged the role played by the brand’s head office team in Somerset. She said: “At first, we were too busy running the business to fully engage with head office.
“But this was completely the wrong strategy. When we started to make more of an effort to listen to what they were telling us, it made a massive difference to our growth. They’ve pushed us to work towards better business planning and supported us in doing so. They’ve definitely been integral to the growth of our business.”
The Message from Revive!
The brand’s franchise director, Cathryn Hayes, explained: “We know that running your own business can seem a daunting prospect. This is why we support and train our franchisees at every stage of their journey. Franchisees receive training tailored to each owner’s individual needs. They meet regularly with other franchisees to share ideas and mentor each other.
“All of our franchisees are placed in cohorts within the Accelerated Growth Potential (AGP) programme. This provides tailored and targeted training courses. Ultimately, it has helped numerous franchisees to grow and build their businesses.”
Northampton owner Iain Wallis said this policy has been a major catalyst for the growth of his business: “Joining the AGP group has been a massive help. The guys at head office, the training team, as well as fellow franchisees, illustrate what’s possible. It fuels your ambition, while the structure that the head office team has put in place gets better and better all the time.”
Note: Revive! currently have more than 200 vans on UK roads, operated by local technicians. A number of territories remain available for anyone seeking to join this growing network.
