First Franchise, is a company that has become extremely well-known in the industry since it was first launched at GLEE five years ago. It now has over 40 clients - covering all different types of retail - and works with all the major garden centre groups and top-tier independents.

At this year's GLEE First Franchise unveiled a new service to the garden centre industry: First Franchise Promotions. This is designed to help centres make the most of the opportunities offered by short-term concessions, the type of arrangement that many garden centres may have already organised for themselves locally with businesses such as car dealerships, or insurance services.

These promotions have often been viewed as a way to assist neighbouring companies, however as informal ad-hoc arrangements, there has sometimes been little control over the activities and misunderstandings have led to problems including; customer complaints, disputes leading to non-payments, poor operators reflecting on the garden centre's brand, and lack of health and safety guidance and suitable insurance cover.

To simplify the process for garden centres, First Franchise Promotions will:

• Offer a fully managed outsource service  for short term enquiries.
• Agree a financial rate card and promotional calendar with the garden  centre in order that the garden centre receives the revenue it requires for the promotions.
• Negotiate the arrangement with the short-term company on behalf of the garden centre.
• Issue paperwork to the garden centre and short-term company to ensure that both parties are aware of the details of the promotion at every stage.
• FFP will pay the garden centre the total cost of the short term promotion so the garden centre does not have to open trading accounts with different companies or be concerned about trading terms.

"There are clearly many advantages to passing this type of arrangement over to a company such as First Franchise," points out Ian Silverton, who is Operations Director. "All we ask for is a link to your existing website. As a garden centre, you don't have to worry about all the details or chase any money, we will do all that for you. It truly is a win-win situation."

That certainly appears to be the conclusion reached by visitors to the First Franchise stand at the recent GLEE show. Around 50 garden centres including a number of major groups , signed up for the short-term promotions service there and then.

"The general conclusion seemed to be that there was no reason not to sign up," adds Silverton. "After all, the advantage of dealing with First Franchise is that we know the industry, and we know the individual garden centres and groups within it. Therefore, we will only introduce concessions that complement the centres themselves. We know there are some -industry types that would not be a good match and consequently we woud not put them forward as they would be counterproductive."

Despite this, the list of products and services offered by First Franchise for short-term promotions is still surprisingly extensive. It includes everything from alternative medicines and health care to farmers markets, photographers and will writers. "There is no pressure to accept a product or company for a promotion if you don't want to," says Silverton. "We are so confident in the quality of the service that we don't think this is necessary."

If your interest has been piqued by the possibility of hosting short-term promotions at your garden centre, the process really is surprisingly simple. First Franchise require a link to the existing garden centre website. This will lead to the First Franchise Promotions website, which is designed for both garden centres and companies to enquire directly to FF Promotions (www.ffpromotions.co.uk).

Garden Centres that register with First Franchise benefit from the following:

• Each garden centre has its own bespoke web page which is created and maintained by First Franchise.
• The web page contains images and text to describe the garden centre and space available.
• An enquiry box is included - all enquiries link directly to the First Franchise experienced team of advisers.
• A hyperlink is created from the First Franchise website to the garden centre's website and the FFP logo is placed on the garden centre's Contact Us page or Home Page.
• A map of the UK shows where each registered garden centre is located.
• Companies looking for short-term marketing opportunities can view the details of individual garden centres and enquire about the availability of space direct to the FF team.

The beauty of this type of service is that if it is organised well, everyone wins. Companies looking to promote their products can choose garden centres in strategic locations, using the First Franchise website and map. Meanwhile, garden centres, simply need to make some space available and bank the cheque from First Franchise. And even those garden centres that are not blessed with acres of space can benefit from this type of promotion, as it only requires a few square feet - even the car park can be used!

Certainly, the testimonials speak for themselves, "Our centres have benefited significantly from the additional revenue and interest that FF Promotions' short-term clients have generated," says David Pierpoint, Business Development Director for Wyevale Garden Centres Ltd. "The FF Promotions paperwork and booking procedure is tightly managed, ensuring that our management team is informed of the promotional activity for our sites, at every stage of the process."

Silverton is thrilled with the reception First Franchise Promotions received at GLEE and the reaction from customers all over the country. "We are the only company offering this type of service to the garden centre industry although similar services already thrive in other  retail environments," he says. "Garden centres trust our judgement and our knowledge of companies looking to operate short-term promotions means that we are ideally placed to expand this significant revenue stream for the garden centre industry."

IAN SILVERTON

Operations Director
First Franchise Limited

Telephone 01252 404559
Mobile 07884 001591
E-mail: ian.silverton@firstfranchise.com
Web: http://www.firstfranchise.com/