As new legislation on Age Discrimination takes effect, employers are being forced to recognise that a person’s skills and abilities are more important than their age or gender. Franchisors have been awarding franchises on this basis for many years, recruiting a higher number of mature people, who tend to have more capital – often from a redundancy payout – and greater life experience. According to the NatWest/bfa Franchise Survey 2006 the average age of franchisees is currently 46 compared with an average of 40 a decade ago.
The industry has also seen an increase in the number of opportunities aimed primarily at women such as ‘handywomen’, slimming and fitness groups, dance and swimming clubs for babies and young children, jewellery and ceramics. Patricia Hawkins is proof that being a mature female is not a barrier to building a successful business if you’re prepared to work hard and have the backing of a professional franchisor.
Patricia was making a good living working as a Configuration Engineer developing software for telephone systems, but the industry was unstable and redundancy was a real threat. Taking her future in her own hands she re-mortgaged her four-bedroom house in Leicestershire to fund a Northwood Lettings and Sales franchise. She recalls: ‘At the time, my daughter Nicola was working on Northwood’s marketing material and brought a brochure home. I hadn’t considered franchising but it looked like a good opportunity, was well presented and definitely worth considering.’ Read more.
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