The company has seen an increase on last year in enquires from budding franchisees who have backgrounds in financial services and in the past three months has handled franchise applications from more than several men and women who work in banking and finance.

ORCA Managing Director, Dean Watmough, comments: 'We are getting enquires from some extremely experienced individuals within the banking and financial services sectors. Many also have vital customer-facing skills and have managed the delivery of specific products and services.

'There is no doubt that the current economic climate and huge changes in the lending market are behind the upsurge, but the men and women we are speaking to are also seeing this as a huge opportunity to put their knowledge and skills into running their own business in an area where there is real and substantial growth.'

Recent ORCA Website franchisee appointments from the world of finance include Alison Henderson, who runs the Warwickshire territory, following a long career as a customer relationship manager for a corporate bank and Ken Hill, who operates Northumberland, following a 25-year career in management accountancy.

Alison Henderson comments: 'What impressed me most about ORCA is its focus on the specific needs of individual businesses. Their team of specialist website designers produces tailored sites to enhance the business of particular customers. There is never one-size-fits-all - all businesses have unique selling points and specific target customer bases.'

Ken Hill comments: 'I have wanted to run my own business for some time now and had been looking at an internet focused opportunity because this has been a growing marketplace over recent years and is a very powerful tool for improving a company's results.'

Published: 11 December 2008

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