When Leigh Rigden decided to swap his job as a meter reader for self-employment he found the perfect business opportunity with Ovenu.

Rigden, who has also worked as a graphic designer and printer, will operate his specialist oven cleaning franchise in the Whitstable, Kent area.

He said: "Since last December I decided to start my own business. I spent a lot of time looking into several oven cleaning franchises, but Ovenu seemed the most straight forward company to work with.

"I chose Ovenu because it was well established in the area and there proved to be a popular market for it. I am keen to build the customer base at present and to develop it even further."

Rik Hellewell, Managing Director of Ovenu, said: "It's great to have Leigh running the Ovenu franchise in Whitstable. He is a multi-skilled, enthusiastic, hard-working man who will soon have lots of clients. Over the last 16 years we have established a very simple, but very effective franchise model that, with the right business acumen and commitment, can provide a very successful business opportunity with huge growth potential."