David Sidwell, Chemex

I had been working in national sales for a children's publishing company in the north of England when I was made redundant. I wanted to find a job, in which I could use my skills but the nearest jobs in publishing were in Bath or Aberdeen.

I decided the franchise route was best and when I saw the Chemex franchise opportunity being advertised for Huddersfield and Halifax I knew it was something I could do - the fact it was only 10 minutes from where I live also attracted me!

As I had worked with national accounts previously I found the experience very useful when dealing with care homes whose structure was very similar.

I am already treating this as a family business because my wife Beverly has been getting involved as she has an office management background and plans to join me full-time in the future.

As I only started at the end of February, I am currently working five 12-hour days and Saturday mornings and plan to do this for the first six months in order to build up my business.

The training and support I have received have been second to none and I love having joined a Blue Chip company like Chemex. Everyone at head office and in the network have been very helpful and I know if I ever need anything they are just a phone call away.