The franchise that's booming in the recession

LONDON HOUSE

London House was established in 1995 and has built a national reputation for assisting business clients, law firms and banks through a range of specialist services involving its professional investigation skills. These include asset tracing, performing company searches, screening prospective employees, providing witness statements, writing status reports and investigating fraud.

Managing Director Godfrey Lancashire spent 25 years with Barclays Bank, the last five of them as Head of Risk Management, before co-founding London House with Brian Hughes, a qualified investigator with extensive knowledge of the legal profession and court procedures. They were joined in 2006 by Business Development Director Mark Blaber, who has 25 years of experience in the banking industry and is focused on building the company's national contract business.

The company has established 45 territories in the UK, which has enabled it to take on a range of national contracts with blue chip clients and government agencies including 14 of the 34 Official Receivers Offices in the UK (with negotiations to win business from the remainder ongoing).

FRANCHISE PACKAGE

London House offers two investment level options for aspiring franchise owners. Its Standard package provides a town-sized exclusive territory and can be secured for £9,500, while its Premium package covers a larger, regional territory combining a number of population centres for an investment starting at £17,500.

Both packages includes the same level of comprehensive training, ongoing support, full marketing launch programme and access to a Franchise Help Desk, plus introductions to known clients and recommendations on local networking events.

WHY CREDIT MANAGEMENT SERVICES ARE BOOMING

With debt defaults on the increase and set for continued growth during the coming recession, banks are outsourcing more and more cases of bad debt to specialist companies to establish the facts and trace hidden assets. However, it is not only the major creditors who are suffering - businesses from sole traders to major corporations are finding it increasingly difficult to get repayment on their trade invoices within agreed terms of trade. Increasingly, these businesses are also turning to specialists for assistance with collection of overdue accounts.

With credit risk becoming more of a problem, more and more companies are investing in worthwhile credit checks at the underwriting stage before even considering offering credit. Specialist commercial investigators and credit service providers such as London House, whose services are in demand when the economy is faring well, are busier than ever during the downturn.

THE FACTS:

1 person is declared bankrupt or insolvent in the UK every 5 mins

UK debt grows by £1m every 8 mins!