Douglas Wilson was with the Police Force for five years before deciding to be his own boss. He wanted to see direct rewards for working harder and putting in extra hours and within three months of becoming a PCC franchisee he was covering his costs and earning good money.

"I was amazed at how quickly things have taken off for me," he confirms. "I launched in November last year, arguably the most difficult time of the year, with dark evenings and bad weather. Nonetheless, the work has continued to flow in and now that we have longer days and some sunshine, my business has definitely gone up a gear!"

Douglas has found that there is plenty of demand for his services and says that the professionalism of PCC provides a real competitive edge. "I had no previous experience of this kind of business, but the training, together with the quality of the products, means that you can achieve outstanding results. PCC franchisees look the part - we have liveried vehicles that are very smart and act as great mobile advertisements and we're fully insured too. The business is very credible and that helps open new doors.

"PCC has a great business model and is one of the most affordable franchises available, in my opinion. As part of the Myhome Group, franchisees benefit from a professional management team with extensive market experience and a track record of success. I figure that if I can't make money out of this, I can't make money out of anything!"

According to Chief Executive Lloyd Evans, PCC franchisees can expect to earn an income from day one. Many of the original franchisees, recruited two years ago when the company launched, are now regularly earning well over £1,000 a week with a rapidly expanding loyal customer base, which is drawn both from a massive marketplace of individual private car owners and businesses with company cars.

Lloyd concludes: "The strength of the PCC franchise derives from a market leading mobile service, focused on customer satisfaction, convenience and value for money, underpinned by depth of experience and expertise in the automotive sector. PCC's purpose-designed VW Caddy vehicle has an integrated wash & vacuum system built-in, enabling franchisees to take their service directly to their customer, any place, any time. The comprehensive training programme focuses on sales and marketing techniques as well as customer service values and includes hands-on one-to-one mentoring during the launch period and ongoing support from a dedicated franchise development team. In a little over two years PCC has built a solid network of franchisees and we predict continued strong growth in the network going forward."

Interview by Megan Dunmore