Prestige Nursing franchisee prepares to launch new business

Care franchise Prestige Nursing newest franchisee is set to launch her new business. Carol Stafford (pictured) was made redundant in 2008 and began looking into franchising shortly afterwards, she says: 'I was looking for a management franchise, and eventually settled on the care sector as it offered long term prospects given the UK's demographic profile and the growing need for care at home. I hadn't realised though quite how many companies offered franchises in the domiciliary and healthcare sectors and the choice was quite bewildering.'

Although Carol looked at other domiciliary franchises she decided to join Prestige Nursing, she says: 'Their honesty, drive and professionalism made a real impact on me, as did their experience of running both company-owned and franchised branches.'

Unlike many domiciliary care franchises Prestige Nursing offers the complimentary area of healthcare recruitment as an additional income stream for all franchisees. Jonathan Bruce, Managing Director of Prestige Nursing, comments: 'Domiciliary care is undoubtedly an area that offers significant opportunities and with our experience in this area we feel very confident that we can offer franchisees a full range of distinctive services to take advantages of them. However, it does take time to develop this type of business which is why offering healthcare recruitment can not only allow franchisees to generate income more quickly, but also gives them an even wider range of services to offer their clients and spreads the risk accordingly.'

Carol adds: 'To be honest this was one of the main reasons why I chose Prestige, along with the fact that they offer a comprehensive back office support function as part of the ongoing management fee. This will save me immense amount of time and allow me the freedom to grow my business quickly and effectively. I'll be joining an established network of company-owned and franchise branches across the UK, which has a real reputation for excellence, and this fills me with confidence as well.'

Currently in the process of launching her new business Carol says: 'I've just finished training and I can't wait to get started. Prestige has been with me every step of the way so far and I've already had enquiries coming in to the business and we haven't even launched yet! The research we conducted prior to setting up has allowed us to target our efforts to where we know they'll have most effect.'