Amanda’s career reignited through a Martin & Co franchise
For Amanda Hember, her children’s teenage independence led her to seek a new challenge with Martin & Co – one that eventually became a family affair alongside husband Stephen and daughter Chloe.
Based in Warrington in the North West, Amanda had put her career on hold while her children were young but “has a lot of energy and wanted to get her teeth into something,” laughs Stephen.
“Amanda took on the business in 2007 and it’s been her baby since then,” he adds.
“She was at the stage where our children were 14 or 15 years old and becoming more independent, so she wanted to get back to her career.”
For Stephen, his role in his family’s plant hire business required extensive travel, which led to a timely reminder of the Martin & Co franchise when flicking through a national newspaper in his hotel room.
“When I worked in the family business, I used to travel a lot – probably around one week every month – as we had six branches of the business dotted around the UK,” he says.
“I used to get the Daily Express for when I was on the road, and I picked it up one day and there was a franchise section in there.
“I was reading it my hotel room and came across Martin & Co as a franchise option – a business we were aware of as Martin & Co’s Warrington branch managed some rental properties we had at the time.”
With the Warrington office under ownership, the next closest branch to the Hembers was Widnes, but this was also owned by another franchisee.
“I approached the Widnes office through a friend of a friend and Amanda ended up working for them for free for three months to see if she liked the franchise as a business,” reveals Stephen.
“The plan was if she did, we’d look at buying our own Martin & Co franchise, with the nearest one then being St Helen’s.
“She loved it and as it happened, the stars aligned a bit and the Widnes branch became available, so we took advantage and bought it.
“In the end, we also acquired the portfolio from Warrington as well in 2019”
While Amanda set about growing the Widnes offices existing portfolio of 80 properties, Stephen remained in the family plant hire business. But not for long.
“I worked in the family business for about 30 years until around eight years ago when we sold up,” says Stephen.
“I pondered what to do next and started popping into the Widnes office to become more involved alongside Amanda and I’m still here now most days almost nine years later!
“Our daughter is in the business as well so the three of us are very much involved alongside our four other members of staff.”
As well as growth in personnel, the Hembers have also increased the branch’s managed portfolio from that initial 80 properties to more than 500 – including their fifth and most recent acquisition of almost 60 properties from Warrington-based The Big Property Shop.
“The financial crash happened not long after we purchased the branch but when you start out, you’ve got nothing to lose and when we took it on, we had 80 properties,” says Stephen.
“We’re now up to more than 500, so it’s been steady growth both organically and through acquisitions. Because of the acquisitions we’ve made, we’ve also got around 100 properties in Warrington now that are run from the Widnes office.”
The benefit of being part of a national network of offices also led the Hembers to complete a three-way acquisition with Martin & Co’s branches in Liverpool and Manchester.
And that’s not the only benefit the Hembers have enjoyed through the franchise.
“The main benefit we’ve had over the years from being part of such a large franchise has been compliance,” says Stephen.
“Compliance rules are changing all the time and being part of a franchise gives you that safety net that you need with so much change.
“There’s also great value for money in the marketing support that comes from the franchisor.”