Franchising Business The Franchise Group is taking the Irish market by force with the appointment of new Managing Director, Shane Creegan. The Franchise Group specialises in turning established businesses into franchise opportunities in order to achieve fast countrywide growth. It is a concept that has taken the UK by storm, enabling more than 50 companies to successfully franchise their business in just two years they have successful launched more than 40 per cent of the UKs franchising market.

With the Irish Franchise Groups first local franchising business set to launch this summer, Shane is confident that the Franchise Group will continue to flourish in the current buoyant Irish market. Shane, 47, from Ratoath in Co. Meath, says: The Irish franchising market has experienced huge growth over the last five years with over 200 established franchises already in Ireland. There is a great entrepreneurial spirit from new franchisees in Ireland, with research showing that almost one in ten of the adult population is actively planning or has recently set up a new franchise business. Franchising is now proving to be one of the best ways of going into a new business opportunity to achieve the independence of being responsible for your own business, with the added security of a skilled network of individuals and an established brand already in place.

The Franchise Group has revolutionised the market with its dedication to ethical franchising through an Upside-Down business model; a performance based approach which is unique in that it focuses on the ongoing success and profitability of the franchisee from day one of working with the franchisor. With 25 years experience in project management, business expansion and management consultancy in the IT and Engineering sectors, Shane is well equipped for his new franchising role. He sees the amount of potential in the Irish franchise market and believes that The Franchise Groups approach provides an invaluable tool for small and medium sized enterprises to gain a competitive edge and the chance to migrate into the UK market through franchising.

Shane continues: Before joining The Franchise Group I researched franchises from all over the world and compared their strategies and business models. The Upside-Down approach is unique in that we dont launch the franchise and then leave it to go it alone. Each part of the chain is dependent on the other and so its imperative for all involved that we work to make a success of franchisees and leverage the best results from them.

I look forward to building on the success of The Franchise Group in Ireland and in the coming months we will be recruiting partners and growing our presence here. Franchising is a major contributor to growth in the UK and US economies and there is lots of room for further growth in Ireland, as new and different franchise businesses continue to enter this market.