Date for your diary: the Surrey M25 Franchise Show

Next stop on the Franchise Show roadshow is Sandown Park Racecourse on Saturday 4th September. Open between 10.00am and 4.00pm, the exhibition will showcase over 35 proven franchised business formulas – including Auditel – in a one-stop-franchise-shop aimed at anybody who is looking to start a franchised business in the South of England.  Entry is free – as is the parking! – and there’s no need to register in advance. And once there, you can browse all the businesses on offer and take in “drop-in” workshops advising on finance and start up enterprise.

The Auditel team will be on Stand 16 and look forward to seeing you there.

In their own words: why Auditel consultants are in it for the long term

Auditel have been franchising our unique cost and purchase management consultancy business system since 1997 and many of the people who joined us in that first year are still with us today, forming the backbone of an experienced and talented network of professional consultants. This means, of course, that they have chosen to renew their 5-year evergreen agreement with us several times, demonstrating their confidence in the Auditel business system and it’s ability to provide them with  a profitable and secure long-term business opportunity. Indeed, it is becoming more and more common for our franchisees to renew their agreements on a 10-year, rather than 5-year basis, which is good for them and for the Network as a whole, ensuring a continuity of experience and expertise that benefits both colleagues and clients alike. This is what just a few of our consultants, who have renewed in the last few months, have said about their decision: Read more…

Rise of the homeworker

According to the 2009 Labour Force Survey there are 691,000 people in the UK whose commute to work consists of no more than a short shuffle across the landing from bathroom to spare bedroom, or a stroll past the veg patch to the ‘office’/shed at the bottom of the garden. These people are homeworkers and they have increased in number by nearly 100,000 since the last survey in 2006. This article on the Guardian website gives lots more facts and figures about the rise of this phenomenen and discusses some of the (mostly) pros and (relatively few) cons.  While the gist of this article is about being an employed homeworker, there are also many people working from home for themselves.

If you’re running your own business, the ability to run it from your own home has another, very important, advantage: it’s a lot cheaper than renting office space. This is one of the reasons that Auditel is such a low-overhead business opportunity. If you’ve got a computer, internet access and a phone, you’ve got all the infrastructure you need to be one of our cost and purchase management consultants. In fact, you don’t even need a computer because you’ll get a laptop as part of your franchise package.

Auditel consultant gets on his bike to help heroes

Well done to Auditel consultant Laurence Fitch who has entered the first ever ‘Lexus Great British Bike Ride’ to raise money for a number of charities, including ‘Help for Heroes’. The four-day bike ride, which takes place 1st – 4^th September 2010 between Lands End and Twickenham, will be the first in a series of annual events aiming to raise £1.5 million for charity over the next five years and is designed for all cycling enthusiasts, sportsmen and women, who want to take on a real challenge and raise some much appreciated funds.

As Laurence, who spent 14 years in the RAF, says: Read more…

Get to know some Auditel Franchisees

One of our 2010 intake of consultants, Lee Freeman, who trained in March, has given an interview to the Total Franchise website. As you’ll see from his interview, Lee trained as an accountant but held senior FD posts in the UK and Europe before deciding to start his own business. Like most of our consultants, he carefully weighed up the pros of cons of starting somthing on his own from scratch or buying an existing stand-alone business before deciding that franchising gave him the right balance of support and freedom to build a successful long-term business for himself and his family.

Below Lee’s intereview are also links to a series of other interviews with Auditel consultants, both new and old-timers (sorry William!), from a wide range of professional backgrounds.

Powerful new Client Management System launched

Last week saw our Commercial Director, Derek Chisnall, and our Business Systems Manager, Antony May, touring the country for our summer round of Regional Meetings. These are held four times a year in four different locations – Manchester, Coventry, Watford and Winchester – each time. As well as providing opportunities for Auditel consultants to hear from suppliers and update their knowledge of developments across our areas of expertise, these meetings also provide a platform for sharing best practice across the Auditel Network and for launching new tools and products.

The latest launch is a powerful new online Client Management System Read more…

Auditel are proud to support England's elite athletes

We’re delighted to announce that Auditel has become an ‘Official Friend‘ of the England Commonwealth Games Team, ‘We are England‘. Hundreds of athletes from 17 sports disciplines will be heading to Delhi for the Games, which run 3rd – 14th October this year, and for all of them this will be the culmination of thousands of hours of practice, commitment and dedication. We wish every single one of them the very best of luck and look forward to celebrating and sharing their triumphs in October.

If you’d like to know more about how the team’s preparations are coming along, and to get regular updates in the lead up to the Games, send an email to newsletter@auditel.co.uk quoting the reference ‘Commonwealth Games’.

A marathon effort to raise funds for BLESMA

Journeys end: James (left) and Thane (right) complete their epic challenge

You may remember that a few weeks ago I posted a blog about James Bury’s plan to walk and run the equivalent of four marathons to raise money for his client, BLESMA (British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association). Well, I’m glad to report that despite choosing one of the hottest weekend’s of the year James and his friend, Thane Hall, successfully completed this gruelling challenge well within the 48-hour time they’d set themselves, completing the 102.5-mile, Southdowns Way between Winchester and Eastbourne in just 39 hours.

James says, “ Apart from some wear and tear, I feel great, despite having to stand on the train back to Winchester! A big thank you to everyone who’s supported us and BLESMA – that support made all the difference when it looked like it might be difficult to finish. Also a very special thanks to Thane for coming up with the idea, and for proving to be a faultless navigator even at night after 70 miles non-stop! BLESMA is an amazing charity that supports those who have suffered serious injury serving their country. For every death reported in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are probably two or three very seriously wounded, who are almost always young people with their whole lives ahead of them. While they can provide plenty of courage and determination they do need specialist help, encouragement and opportunities to rebuild their lives. We’ve raised £2,000 in sponsorship so far, which I’m really thrilled about as every donation to BLESMA, however modest, is going to a very deserving cause.”

Managing Costs still top priority for CFOs fearing double dip recession

A survey carried out recently by Deloitte found that the number of CFO’s feeling optimistic about the UK economic outlook has dropped from 40% in Q1 to only 24% in Q2. The main reason appears to be increasing fears of a double-dip recession resulting, at least in part, from uncertainty about what impact public spending cuts and tax rises will have on the private sector. The average CFO now feels the probability of another recession stands at 38%, up from 33% in Q1.¹

While lack of liquidity and the availability of cash is less of a concern than at the height of the credit cruch, CFO’s are still worried about growth, especially given the weakness of the global recovery and the UK’s export market, so maintaining tight control of their costs is still a top priority.

This certainly seems to be bourne out by the level of enquiry we are experiencing. Our client base has risen by 11.4% this year, and income returns reported by our consultants are also rising strongly as more and more organisations realise effective cost management is vital to their future – not just a ‘nice to have’ – and look for professional help and advice.

¹ Telegraph Online, 5th July 2010

SWATuk and Auditel join forces

We’re pleased to announce that Auditel has established a formal strategic partnership with accountancy training and compliance providers, SWAT UK. The aim of the partnership is to enable SWAT members to add Auditel’s cost and purchase management consultancy services to their portfolio of accountancy services. Denis Brennan, who has been responsible for putting the partnership together from the Auditel side, is enthusiastic about the opportunities this presents for all concerned.  “We both anticipate enormous synergy from this relationship. SWATUK has a client base of 4,000 firms who use them for training courses, consultancy, manuals and other technical support. They can now add the valuable Auditel free business cost healthcheck to their portfolio of services, thus creating a new income stream.”