Work keeps pouring in for ReactFast Plumbing Franchisees

This article was published in the Business Franchise magazine June 2005 edition.

A starter for 10: what do a marketing consultant, a time-served plumber, a Royal Navy engineer, an IT manager, and a motorcycle salesman have in common? The answer: they all bought ReactFast plumbing franchises this year.

It goes to show that there is no single background required to join ReactFast, the fast - growing plumbing franchise. The most important requirements are a desire to learn, a willingness to work hard, and the ambition to build a business.

Andrew Quail, a veteran of the franchising world for more than 23 years, is franchise business leader at ReactFast, the £12 million company that is a top player in the fast-response plumbing market. Quail says 'ReactFast excels at generating masses of work. But just making the phones ring is a wasted endeavour if you don't have enough people to do the work. ReactFast had so much work coming into its telesales centre, that they turned to franchising in an effort to find enough plumbers to carry out the work they generate.

On 1st January this year, React fast had no franchisees. At the time this article went to press in the Business Franchise magazine June 2005 edition, they had five franchisees fully trained and out working, and a further nine about to start on the next training course.' Quail predicts that there will be at least 30 franchisees by the end of this year.

We asked the new franchisees how they felt about their decision to join React fast. At the time, only Geoff Lynn was trading - the other four were still completing their intensive seven week training programme at ReactFast's bespoke training facilities in central Birmingham. However, they were all keen to talk about their experiences so far.

Geoff Lynn, from Luton, initially felt that being the pilot franchisee was something of an act of faith. 'I soon realised there was nothing to worry about. ReactFast know what they are doing, all their systems are well tested in the field, and they certainly know how to generate business. In my first six-day week, they passed me 26 jobs. My feet barely touched the ground. I get the occasional quiet day, which is actually a bit of a relief seeing that most of the time they have jobs queued up waiting for me, and I'm going from job to job.

The other franchisees were happy with their plumbing training. Pete Longland from Northampton was impressed, describing it as 'thorough, intense and professional. Initially I wondered how they could manage to turn me into a plumber in just seven weeks, along with City & Guilds qualifications, but there's no doubt that's what they've done. It's been impressive. I can't wait to get started in my territory.'

Gary Sheridan of Derby had spent a long time investigating many franchise opportunities over a long period before settling on React fast. 'Giving up your job to join a franchise is a major decision, and I was determined to get it right,' he says. Everything that has happened since joining ReactFast confirms to me that I have made the right decision.'

'All the people at ReactFast are really friendly and helpful, yet also thoroughly professional,' says Steve Brown from Plymouth. 'ReactFast is large enough to have every form of support that a franchisee could ever need, but still small enough to care. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a good franchise'.

Shaun Fitzgerald of Southampton originally questioned if the course was right for him. 'As a time-served plumber, I originally wondered if the course would be a waste of time. I was wrong - I have learned alot, and of course all the business sessions, marketing and bookkeeping and so on, are invaluable in starting out in my own business. Now I feel well equipped to drive my business forward.'

Andrew Quail is confident about all the plumbing franchisees' capabilities. 'Geoff is performing well ahead of the business plan I drew up for him, but then, I like to make conservative assumptions. I think most ReactFast plumbing franchisees will perform ahead of target'.

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