Martin & Co is upping its recruitment drive and has unveiled a new website to attract new franchisees.
The site details the journey to becoming a franchise owner, whether for a new venture or an existing agent joining the group.
A new franchise benefits package includes online marketing support, including SEO and an ad words campaign.
Martin & Co has just shy of 200 offices with almost 100 having been launched since the credit crisis of 2007.
Ian Wilson, Martin & Co managing director, said: “In tough economic times, people may be more reluctant to start up their own business. In fact it’s the best time as the opposition may not be as strong.
“Within less than a year several of our new agents have already moved into shop premises, taken on full-time staff and are going from strength to strength far quicker than they had ever imagined.”
The new information website for potential franchisees is here:
www.propertyfranchise.co.uk
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Comments
Mark Sterren - It is now mandatory for Martin & Co franchisees to hold Client Money Protection insurance and has been for some time.
Historically the requirement had been relaxed on the basis that Head Office carried out their own audits of their franchisees' client accounts and many franchisees outsourced their client accounting anyway. However, over a year ago the franchisees themselves voted overwhelmingly for CMP to be mandatory across the group.
Martin & Co Head Office can and do take action up to and including withdrawing the franchise and running the business directly from Head Office in the case of non-compliance.
I'm a MAC franchisee of ten years standing. Even though I've got CMP and am a licenced member of ARLA I've just had a full end-to-end audit of my business carried out by an auditor appointed by Head Office.
Does that answer your question as regards what state the typical MAC franchisee's cleint account is likely to be in?
@Mark Sterren
Thats some interesting points that you made there, assuming that this is fact, then this raises concern as to the quality of franchisee.
Though comparing their ratings against the likes of Belvoir & Winkworth, they must surely be finding it hard to attract the right calibre of people!
That's franchising - it enables someone to start a business in something they haven't done previously because they get training, support, and a 'process' given to them. I don't see why people are so surprised.
Equally I don't see why people see allagents as anything other than a forum in which idiots can vent their anger it's hard to find a positive review on there for any lettings agent, apart from those that are clearly self generated.
What surprises me more is that Martin & Co are the only main 'brand name' lettings agent who don't insist their franchisees are members of a professional body with the pre-requisite insurance. Their main competitors all are, and I wonder why this is. Could it be that Martin's client accounts are in such a state that they wouldn't be eligible for membership if they tried. This surely would be a big concern.
Agreed. Suffice to say I judge neither myself nor my competitors by what is written on allagents.
@your having a laugh
How may tenants are there in the PRS ?. I don't know either but erring on the side of caution, let's say its 10 million. How many have written a review on allagents? Under 39k. So the simple calculation says less than half of one percent of the renting population have commented. Hardly, a representative sample.
Most of the posts on allagents are just malcontent former tenants having an illiterate rant. As a landlord, I use these as a testimonial of which agent to select. Most of the posts sound like the agent is just doing their job properly!
As an equally long-standing Martin & Co franchisee I agree with Dave's comments.
I should add that Martin & Co franchisees are not only trained, they are also monitored and audited by the franchisor on an ongoing basis to ensure that the training is actually implemented and the correct standards are maintained.
Anyone who has got as far as having a meeting at Martin & Co's Head Office and is seriously considering joining the brand is welcome to call me and I'll give them my honest opinions about the franchise opportunity (its not hard to work out where to find me).
"This is because the train you before you open"! Martin & co have got the worst track record in the industry. They have a rating of 10037 out of 11539 on allagents. They are only interested in volume, not quality. It won't be long before their greed comes back to bite them in the backside
That is because they train you before you open and encourage every franchisee to get a professional qualification. I know as a long standing franchisee that I could not have operated in this area legitimately if I had started up on my own. I can vouch that the vast majority of Martin & Co franchisees would strongly support licensing or some form of regulation to get rid of the "cowboys" who give the rest of us a bad name.
This introductory comment on their website page says it all...
http://www.propertyfranchise.co.uk/skills-you-need/
"You do not need direct experience in lettings, estate agency or the wider property sector to succeed at Martin & Co."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!