In the last year, Ableworld has opened five new stores across the length and breadth of the UK. Said stores can today be found operating in Colchester, Reading, Southampton, Gloucester and Broxburn, near Edinburgh. At time of press, a further new store, located in Cardiff, will either be open or on the verge of opening also.

The opening of the aforementioned Broxburn store was met with considerable excitement and is even being considered by some within Ableworld as the best mobility store in Europe.

Ableworld Broxburn is owned by local residents David Gaffney and his wife Audrey, as well as sister Maureen McIvor, all of whom possess significant retail, customer service and management experience. As with all of Ableworld’s franchise owners, Ableworld Broxburn’s owners have each undertaken its extensive and rigorous training programme, so as to be able to assess customers correctly and provide the right solutions for the needs they face.

David said: “I am looking forward to fulfilling our customers’ expectations. When we were researching other mobility retailers, we were disappointed by the number of times we would walk into a store and just be completely ignored. We also noticed that these stores were also often small, dark and not at all welcoming. Our new store is completely the opposite to all these things and we will ensure that at Ableworld Broxburn every customer is treated in the fair and honest way they deserve.”

Ableworld’s achievements over the last year also saw it named as one of the finalists in the bfa’s Emerging Franchise of the Year category at its 2014 Award’s ceremony.

Of its success this year, Ableworld’s Franchise Director, Paul Boniface said: “The year thus far has seen the Ableworld franchise truly come of age. We now have a network of stores across the country. Our franchise offering and our process for getting new franchise owners started in business is constantly being up-dated and improved, as can be seen by the record breaking sales of recent franchise owners.”

As the Ableworld brand has grown, so to has the number of support staff amongst its ranks, including a second Franchise Support Manager. As far as the future goes, Ableworld is moving forward with its plans to open a further six-to-eight new franchises within the next 12 months.

Published: 26 September 2014

Back to news