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Neil Schofield is the second franchise owner to benefit from a new initiative by The Filta Group, which owns a number of franchise opportunities including FiltaFry Plus and Fita-Seal, to help high quality candidates fulfil their business ambitions.
Last year saw Dinesh Mangal become the first budding business owner to be awarded the scholarship so that he could launch his Milton Keynes-based FiltaFry Plus franchise.
Damian Slater, Franchise Manager at The Filta Group, explained the importance and purpose of scheme: “We get to meet many people who show an interest in The Filta Group and its range of franchise opportunities.
“Occasionally someone comes along who has a very special something that we recognise as being of such worth we feel they will bring real value to the brand and make a great success – not just for us but for themselves and their families too.
“However, sometimes these individuals may not have the funds to enable them to move forward.”Like Dinesh, Neil, from Workington in Cumbria, had a background and skill set that The Filta Group knew was perfect for its growing franchise network.
Neil had been involved in the catering industry for 25 years and always insisted that FiltaFry was used at sites he was managing. As such, he was well acquainted with the value of FiltaFry Plus, not just as a service but also as a business.
When he and his wife Kate, who runs a Slimming World franchise, decided to start another business of their own, FiltaFry Plus was the obvious choice.
“As soon as we met Neil and Kate, their enthusiasm and personalities shone through,” says Damian. “We decided there was no way we were going to let anything stand in their way of becoming one of our franchise owners.”
Kate’s parents also saw the great potential in Neil operating a FiltaFry Plus franchise and did not want him to miss out. As a result, they helped the couple to put together the initial investment required, while the balance will be funded by Neil’s ongoing business growth as part of The Filta Group’s scholarship scheme.
Before the launch of his Cumbria franchise, Neil underwent initial training, which included one week at the company’s head office in Rugby, followed by a week of in-field technical training and a third week within his Cumbrian territory with a FiltaFry Plus Development Manager.
The Filta Group plan to award one more scholarship this year to an outstanding individual who might need financial help to achieve their franchise goal.
This will form part of FiltaFry Plus’ plans to expand its franchise owner network across the UK to meet the demand for the service, which is rapidly growing because of the rising cost of cooking oil and companies looking for ways to deliver better food quality, while reducing costs and eliminating health and safety issues in the work place.
The FiltaFry Plus franchise service uses special equipment to extract oil from large fryers, which then goes through a two-way filtration system.
As FiltaFry Plus is a weekly repeat service business, franchise owners do not need a large client base – 30 to 40 customers can provide a good income.
Written by Fraser McKay