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Summary of Operation

Retailer of second-hand electronic and digital entertainment products. CeX trade in videogames, DVDs, mobile phones, digital electronics, computing, vision products and CDs.

Having worked for the second-hand entertainment franchise CeX for five years, business partners Richard Whitley, 24 and Stephen Hall, 31 have seen the retail franchise grow from 20 stores to an impressive 131, confirming the success of its proven business model.

With a passion for electrical products and the support of CeX, the pair knew they could make a success of their Blackpool store.

“Having already worked for CeX, we were very much aware of the running the store side of things, as we have previously had to assist in the training of new franchise owners and helped with store openings,” explains Stephen. “We have seen how popular the business concept has become and the profits that can be made.

“To secure funding for our store, we received a small amount of backing from family, who believed in our abilities to do the job. The CeX franchise team helped us obtain the rest from the bank on the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, due to not having any assets to secure the monies against.”

CeX offers franchise owners the opportunity to become part of an established and proven business model that has 19 years of industry experience. When joining the CeX network, franchise owners receive initial training and ongoing support from its skilled franchise team, limited competition, stock and pricing advice from experts, hands-on store identification, design and outfit and access to its bespoke EPOS system that is designed especially for buying, selling and exchanging goods.

“The support we have received from the CeX franchise team has been brilliant,” says Stephen. “The commercial and marketing teams have been a constant source of assistance to help ensure we have all we need, and our Franchise Manager has been able to give us lots of advice and suggestions to help us improve and grow.”

Stephen and Richard have enjoyed every aspect of running their own business and, with only a couple of months of trading behind them, are already planning on securing their second outlet.

“We hope to be in a position to open a second store by the end of our first year and would like to expand in the local area and across the country, possibly abroad too.

“It’s been an experience getting to this stage but the possibilities of what we can achieve make all the hard work worth it,” says Stephen. “When we do have days off we usually end up back in the store at some point as we really enjoy the job and like to see the results of our hard work. Knowing that whatever effort we put in will benefit us personally is a great feeling.”

Reported by Tiffany Brooking