Summary of Operation
Platinum Property Partners is an established property franchise that enables franchise partners to quickly, safely and successfully build UK residential property portfolios as profitably as possible. It is a community of like-minded and ethical property investors and entrepreneurs who are fast-tracking their path to financial freedom.
Initial investment required from £52,970 + VAT*
Simon and Rebecca Waterfield had not even considered a career in property before 2010. Both had demanding jobs they enjoyed – Rebecca teaching full-time and providing Special Needs training to other teachers, and Simon working as a Head Chef in a hotel. However, their love of DIY meant they did have previous experience of buying homes that needed redevelopment.
Rebecca was still on maternity leave after the birth of their second child when Simon was involved in a car accident. Fortunately for the couple, Simon’s recovery was excellent, and prompted the couple’s decision to invest in their own business to achieve a better work/life balance.
While researching all the options available during his recovery, Simon saw an advert for Platinum Property Partners (PPP) in The Franchise Magazine. Rebecca encouraged him to attend a Discovery Day to find out more.
“If nothing else, I thought it would get him out the house,” she recalls. “By that stage, I was climbing the walls with him being at home for such a long time, so goodness knows how he must have felt!”Before attending the Discovery Day, Simon looked into the PPP franchise further, and carried out full due diligence on the company. Rebecca also spent a substantial amount of time on the telephone to the PPP team, who were able to answer all her questions and provide much needed advice and support.
“We’d had such a traumatic time after Simon’s accident, and we knew that the financial decisions we were making at that stage would affect the rest of our lives,” explains Rebecca. “It was crucial we made the right choices. We looked at various franchise options in all sectors – not just property – but we kept coming back to the exceptional returns that PPP enables its franchise partners to achieve.”
Having learned from PPP about the logic behind leveraged finance and making the family home ‘work’ for them in terms of funding a new venture, the Waterfields spoke to other franchise owners to understand what was achievable. However, all their research continued to point towards PPP being the option that best suited their needs. In July 2010, Rebecca and Simon became franchise owners.
With the aim of building a family business they could eventually pass on to their children, the Waterfields structured a five-year plan. Guided by the PPP team, and supported by other franchise owners within the network, the couple began researching the local area in order to make their first purchase. By the end of 2010, they had already bought, renovated and fully let a six-bedroom property. Over the next year the couple added another three properties – all around the Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent area.
Their five-year plan is now coming to fruition with the expansion of their business to include Simon’s brother, who will look after all the maintenance and management of the properties, and Simon’s sister-in-law, who will assist Rebecca with administration, accounts and marketing.
“We are on track in terms of where we had planned to be at this stage,” beams Rebecca. “Our income levels are where we anticipated they would be, and we will soon be considering our next purchases. All this has only been possible due to the support of the PPP team.”
The Waterfields have also achieved their lifestyle goals too – spending more time with their young children, frequent family holidays, and the ability to get involved with parent groups and other activities.
Most importantly, the couple are enjoying the freedom that running the franchise gives them, while seeing the financial rewards of a healthy income – giving their children a private education, and earning enough capital to realise their ultimate goal of buying a plot of land so they can design and build their dream home.
*Your initial investment plus working capital will total in the region of £300,000.
Written by Fraser McKay