I became an ERA franchisee in January 1997. In my previous role in engineering I was stuck in the same environment, day after day. I am now in a position where I earn much more than engineering would have given me and my lifestyle is so much better.

ERA has given me the opportunity to indulge in one of my greatest passions, which is travel, and the benefits of ERA mean that while I don't get paid for holidays I can always use my fellow ERA colleagues to manage my clients while I am away.

In 10 years I have billed over £1.1 million - that's over £100,000 each year for 10 years - and because the business has a very low overhead cost the majority of this stays with me. This proves to me that not only is the ERA franchise opportunity a great fun lifestyle opportunity but also very a profitable one. I enjoy great variety in my working day as I meet clients and suppliers, all of whom have different needs. I also work with a large number of my fellow franchised consultants on different projects, jointly visit new prospective clients and share the project work allowing me to be in business for myself but not by myself.

10 years on I have not looked back. In this time ERA has grown to be the world's largest and best-known franchised cost management consultancy group. I have just renewed my franchise agreement for a further 10 years and in my work role I simply couldn't be happier. I often remember a song that was around when I was made redundant in 1993, which was called 'Things can only get better'. Well, in joining ERA things have become even better than I could ever have imagined. I am already looking forward to another 10 years. I cannot wait.