British Franchise AssociatIon (bfa) Director General Brian Smart addressed Dream Doors franchisees at their recent conference at the Marriott Hotel in Portsmouth. The conference was Dream Doors' sixth annual event and the first since the company became a full member of the bfa.

'It was an honour to have such a well-known figure attend this year's conference,' says Dream Doors Founder Troy Tappenden. 'It gave the franchisees - some of whom had travelled from Glasgow and Dublin - a real sense of pride in the Dream Doors brand.'

Dream Doors is reporting a five per cent increase on turnover in the last year, with overall sales for 2008 at £6.2 million for the network. 'We're still experiencing overall growth, which is impressive when you look at what's going on in the wider economy,' says Troy, who credits the success to the company's many hardworking franchisees, plus the high level of reinvestment Dream Doors makes to improve the quality of service delivery and increase sales.Dream Doors Franchise Recruitment Manager Alex Waite adds: 'We're investing more in Dream Doors now than at any time before. You've got to fight through the recession with an armour of confidence, and that's what we're doing - and it's working.'

Brian told conference attendees he was impressed with Dream Doors overall performance, which has included the addition of seven new franchised showrooms to the network in 2008. He said the conference was 'bigger and better' and served as 'proof of a growing and very successful network.' He also said to franchisees and head office staff: 'None of it would work without you, and none of it would work without Troy Tappenden.'

Dream Doors' public relations advisor Matt Pigott reflects: 'It's been thrilling to talk at such a vibrant conference. The franchisees were attentive and interactive, and clearly interested in finding out new ways to market their Dream Doors outlets at a local level. They realised that by doing some ground level publicity the whole network benefits - and when the network benefits, they benefit by turns.'

For franchisee Colin McQueen from Swansea, the conference showed that growth is attainable in hard economic times: 'The conference shows that big numbers are deliverable even in the current climate. Fellow franchisees Sam and Dave Cleminson from Bournemouth agreed: 'This is the best conference we've had so far. We've learned a lot and are now thinking seriously about changing our marketing strategy.'

Published: 11 February 2009

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