THE Bridle Group is planning to continue growth further in 2020 with the introduction of a franchising model.

The acquisitive broker group, with a managed fleet size in excess of 40,000 vehicles has already purchased 14 brokers during the last decade and has more acquisitions in its crosshairs.

But the franchisee model is a new departure for 2020.

The group says it has not set volume ambitions for the franchise programme, instead it wants to find the right brokers.

Tano Di Girolamo​, managing director of Bridle Group broker Fulton Leasing, is charged with heading the franchisee programme.

“We are not interested in simply selling a franchise. We are interested in attracting quality people to our group of companies, people who under other circumstances we may never meet; people who unless they are presented with an exciting opportunity like ours, may never step out of the comfort of employment or grow their current business.

“We do not believe in restricting franchisees to territories as we firmly believe that this industry thrives on relationships.”

Di Girolamo also said he expected franchisees to be interested in consultative vehicle broking, using the group’s access to funders and manufacturer relationships to provide the best vehicle solution based on service, price and whole life cost.

Cost of the Bridle Group franchise

The Bridle Group franchisee agreement is over five years and costs £4995 + VAT, which is payable in two tranches to minimise cash flow impact: £2495 on signing the agreement; and £2500 on the first year anniversary of the agreement.

There is then an ongoing monthly fee of £395+VAT per month, plus 20% commission and administration fee retention.

Bridle says this covers items such as:

  • FCA fees
  • Rental of the CRM system
  • Rental of the website along with pricing updates
  • Access to Bridle’s intranet
  • Sales support administration functions
  • Staff training
  • Funder quoting system fees
  • Compliance
  • Plus items such as HR advice and support

Di Girolamo also said that there were additional broker benefits such as a £100 bonus for each maintenance contract written with Bridle Maintenance, £25 for ancillary products such as GAP and a quality bonus for exceeding targets.

Nickie Brooks, Bridle Group head of compliance, added:

“This is a significant move for the Bridle Group. The conditions are right for this sort of expansion. We have sufficient scale to offer all the back-end benefits of a significant player in the broker market, while being part of a welcoming family of individual brokers that want to be part of a growing success story.”

 

Show CommentsClose Comments

Leave a comment