Australian Franchise News – 08-10-09
UK-based entrepreneurs; Jason Didcott, William Jones and Stacey Lynn, are the brains behind the ‘male order company’ Butlers in the Buff and are serious about their new international franchise, which has just launched in Sydney.
Wearing only a bow tie, collar, cuffs and a bottom-revealing apron, experts in etiquette Butlers in the Buff provide a fun, first-class and sophisticated butler service and are producing very respectable profits for the Bristol-based company behind this cheeky enterprise.
Launched eight years ago, Butlers in the Buff have succeeded in cornering a niche section of the hospitality industry and have seen year on year profits rise by 30% each year, with a turnover of £500,000 in the last year. The company now hopes Australia will see the same success.
In the UK, Butlers in the Buff, operates nationally with an entourage of 180 buff butlers who are hired for all occasions including hen parties, birthdays and corporate events. Butlers are also hired for PR appearances and for film premieres. They provide the perfect people to host, meet and greet, serve or to simply look gorgeous, and are set to create a big impact across Australia over the coming months with the sale of the first franchise in Sydney.
Butlers in the Buff founder, Jason Didcott, 40, explains how the move to Australia was a natural progression from the success encountered in Britain and across the globe. “We’ve had a huge response from all over the world but have decided to launch the first franchise in Australia with someone we already know – a former butler. It’s the perfect start as they know the business and our ethos and they have the energy and drive we are looking for in franchisees,” he says.
The minimum cost to buy a franchise is only £8,000. Operations are then maintained with the Butlers in the Buff custom built software, full training of how to run a Butlers in the Buff operation is given and all marketing literature is taken care of by the UK Head Office. The original business model has proved to be a winner, so Didcott is adamant that it will bring equal success to the Australian continent.
Operations Director Will Jones adds “New franchisee; Pete Suttle, had worked as a Butler in the Buff for over two years, before joining forces with his Australian girlfriend, Leah Hudson, to buy the franchise for Sydney. Having been a butler is of course helpful but not necessary to buy and run a successful franchise, we provide full training and business development support for all franchisees no matter where they are in the world. The beauty of buying a franchise is we have already done the hard work of setting up the business, learning from mistakes and subsequently creating flawless systems that make setting up your own business so much easier.”
Franchises are available across the rest of Australia and the world, Didcott’s aim is that they are affordable for the average person who dreams of running their own business.