Smart formula for success
Autosmart International, the UK’s largest manufacturer of vehicle cleaning products, is celebrating winning its 3rd award in 5 years from the British Franchising Association (bfa).

Brian Smart, Director General of the bfa, said: “We congratulate Autosmart on becoming the Bronze Winner of this year’s bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Award. Autosmart operates in a sector that has seen high numbers of casualties. And yet its carefully targeted recruitment and intensive coaching have yielded better-than-expected results. Coming out of recession, the company has just had the best two sales months in their history.

"Commenting on the Bronze Award, Autosmart Managing Director Sophie Atkinson, said, “I’m thrilled that our achievements have once again been recognised by the bfa. Our UK franchisees have grown, despite the worst recession in recent years. I think this is pretty remarkable considering our business is so reliant on the automotive sector.  We continued to invest in areas that help our franchisees to succeed, such as top class sales coaches, to work with our franchise network in the field and world-beating new products that keep them ahead of the competition.”

Picture left: Autosmart Managing Director - Sophie Atkinson receives the Bronze award from Ben Nealon (left) Classified advertising manager for Express Newspapers, Brian Smart (middle)- Director general of the BFA and Cathryn Hayes (right), head of franchising for HSBC.

Chris Bird became an Autosmart franchisee in 2004. Beforehand, he spent 10 years at Autosmart as a Production Supervisor.

“As I got to know some of the franchisees I realised that many of them had very similar backgrounds to myself,” says Chris. “Most had never sold before and Autosmart taught them how to become very successful.  It gave me the confidence to become a franchisee. In fact the opportunity seemed almost too good to be true. I would have the freedom of running my own business and the chance to earn a lot of money.

“I’ve never looked back. I have built a fantastic lifestyle for my family, I love what I am doing and I have a thriving business to sell when I decide to retire. Even the recession hasn’t held me back. In fact the business is growing faster than ever. I am still winning new customers and I have just had my most successful month ever. I just feel lucky that I seized the opportunity to become an Autosmart franchisee. I can see why the bfa once again acknowledged Autosmart as one of the UK’s best franchisors. This really is a winning formula.”


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