London House provides franchisees with the potential to build up a successful varied and stimulating business through its wide range of investigations services. Three franchisees who have recently launched their London House businesses were attracted by the nature of the London House work as it enabled them to use skills they had already learned in their previous careers in the armed forces.

The joint owners of the London House Oxford franchise, Adam Richards and Stuart Griffiths, had previously served together in the armed forces. Adam explains: "Both Stuart and I were in the marines, I was there for six years and Stuart for eight. We left at about the same time and I went to work in Afghanistan while Stuart did security work in London. I often bought The Franchise Magazine - while looking through it we came across London House and both thought it looked interesting so we went from there."

Adam and Stuart launched their franchise in September 2007 and since then they have not only had work from Oxford-based companies but also from London House head office, including a recent job in Belgium. "We went to Belgium to retrieve a camper van that belonged to a man who was in six months of arrears with a bank," Adam reveals. "Part of his clause with the bank was that he was not allowed to leave the UK. London House head office tracked him down in Belgium through his son who is an international motorcross racer and had a race there. By following the son we were led to his dad and managed to retrieve the van." On target to meet their first year turnover of £30,000 the business partners are also in the process of searching for suitable premises to set up an office. Adam comments that the London House franchise provides a great deal of potential for people with a previous career in the military: "I would definitely recommend this franchise to those leaving the armed forces. It's a very interesting career to go into and it's nice to be your own boss after being in the army." Since Rob Bennett, who had previously served in the marines for 12 years, launched his Birmingham-based franchise in November 2007 he has been pleased with the way his business has been developing. "The work has been going very well," he states. "I've mainly been doing insurance fraud work such as surveillance to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. I've also been doing quite a lot of other jobs that head office has sent through, which has been really interesting work."

Although he has been trading for less than a year, Rob has already needed to hire sub-contractors to help with his workload. "There is a lot of work out there at the moment," says Rob. "I'm currently trying to maintain a steady workload, however in the future there is a huge potential to expand."

Like Adam, Rob believes that the time he spent in the military is not wasted with the running of his London House business. He concludes: "There are a lot of military skills that are transferable to this franchise, such as dealing with people and how to analyse a situation. This is a franchise I would recommend to anyone leaving the armed forces."

Text: Derin Ibrahim

Want to stretch your mind?

We're looking for white collar risk control & investigation franchisees

Get Results...as a Professional Investigator

A specialist in financial and commercial investigation, London House was established 13 years ago and now has a network covering 45 franchise territories in the UK. Franchisees provide a range of specialist services to blue chip clients such as Barclays Bank, HSBC Group and Dixons Stores Group, including:

• Asset tracing
• Company searches
• Witness statements
• Pre-employment screening for drugs & alcohol
• Status reports

The Franchise Package:

London House has developed a turnkey franchise package which includes:

• Comprehensive training,
• Ongoing support and backup
• Franchisee Help Desk
• Full marketing launch programme including press releases, local market research, articles & mailshots
• Introductions to known clients
• Recommendations on local networking events
• Exclusive territory: Standard or Premium

Standard or Premium?

London House is opening up new territories across the UK with the introduction of two investment levels:

Standard: £9,500
Town sized population centres such as Plymouth, Gloucester, Stoke or Aberdeen.

Premium: From £17,500
Regional territories combining a number of population centres.

Both packages provide the same level of training, launch and ongoing support to ensure you maximise the business potential of your investment.

We're looking for white collar risk control and investigation franchisees. No previous investigation experience is required, just a professional attitude, business acumen and a desire to enjoy a varied and stimulating work environment.