This month’s International Franchise Association (IFA) seminar at ExCel London welcomed John Preston, Managing Director & Master Franchisee for Mathnasium UK as one of their keynote speakers. Focussing on pathways to US and UK franchise development for brands and business ownership opportunities for prospective franchisees, the event brought franchising giants together to discuss benefits and challenges of cross-pollination across the two global markets.
With an impressive track record of transforming the Mathnasium brand in the UK, John represents the pinnacle of franchise success, having adapted and expanded the education model over the last few years. He got into franchising after a health scare made him re-assess his career in financial trading.
“The doctors gave me a load of tests and as the results started coming back, the last things it could be were two serious forms of cancer and glandular fever. Waiting the final week for those test results felt like an eternity. I just thought: is this all you’ve done? Sat behind trading screens for years? I had a healthy bank account but like many in that industry, I didn’t feel like I’d created a legacy through my career. I finally found out it was glandular fever, but was so weak, I couldn’t hold my 6-month old daughter for more than a few seconds. It took me 6 months to fully recover and then I visited a franchise show.
“Realising franchising was a great option, I started researching some brands. When I saw the amazing customer reviews for every Mathnasium in the US, I thought about how the services could be making the same impact for people in the UK and less than two years after my health scare, I was opening the doors to my first Mathnasium business and three months after that, I became the most successful franchisee in the network. So, when the opportunity came up to become the UK Master Franchisee, I jumped at it… 22 days before the first pandemic lockdown!”
At the heart of the seminar, John shared his unique insights about using the data they had in the business to make improvements whilst still being true to the culture and model of Mathnasium. Despite an initial 30% drop in business in the first three months of the pandemic, Mathnasium ended the year up 110%, no mean feat having put a hold on recruiting new franchisees to the UK network over that period.
The event which included franchising, legal and financial experts highlighting the opportunities and challenges across both international markets welcomed other speakers who have navigated both markets from hospitality and social care franchise brands.
“I’m honoured to have been asked to contribute to this pivotal forum. Having become the Master Franchisee for Mathnasium just days before the first pandemic lockdown, I’ve seen first-hand the power it has to transform lives. We now take strides to move forward once again with the key hire of Emily Price from the British Franchise Association into our team and a multi-unit strategy for our franchisees,” John ended.
