“All our existing franchisees recouped their initial investment within two years”

Bruce Hancock, group sales manager at Cava Guard, who heads up the company’s franchise division, explains how it can help you enter the £12 billion security industry

What is cava guard and how did it start?

Cava Security Services has been operating from its West Midlands base for 16 years.

It was formed by Richard Payton after he decided his extensive career in the security market would give him the experience, combined with his commitment to customer service, to provide class-leading services to a wide portfolio of businesses that need to secure their premises, staff, inventory or control access.

He was so successful that he was soon looking to expand into neighbouring areas.

As Richard wanted to keep the highest standards, he soon realised that licensed partners would be the best route to market. Cava Guard was born to facilitate this controlled, quality monitored growth and Richard was soon signing partners in areas previously unrepresented by Cava Security Services.

After successfully recruiting eight franchisees between 2008 and 2013, we took time to ensure the support and development of our current partners was robust enough to sustain the growth in the security sector.

Having done that, we’re now recruiting again to add value to our existing partners, as well as recruit new ones to provide nationwide coverage.

What does cava guard do and what will the franchise be offering customers?

Cava Guard provides all types of security solutions to a huge and still expanding sector.

These solutions include, but are not limited to:

• Manned guarding.

The provision of a physical guard on a site or premises.

• Mobile patrols.

A patrol officer attends a site as often as required on a regular basis.

Concierge service.

An officer on site who acts as reception, as well as screening visitors.

Key holding.

A set of keys are kept in a secure safe and allows an officer to attend in the case of a keyholder being required to attend.

Response.

An officer attends a site in the case of an alarm or CCTV activation or the premises being breached.

Event security.

Officers control access in terms of numbers, as well as for screening purposes, such as weapon checks.

CCTV installation and maintenance.

• CCTV monitoring.

Our control centre monitors CCTV triggers for threat and if required an officer attends the premises.

In terms of the franchise opportunity, we’re offering a management model predominantly. However, this also works for someone who wants to be hands-on to get the business up and running.

So a typical day in the life of a franchisee will be allocating resources to jobs, carrying out staff welfare checks, liaising with customers - potential or existing - as well as quoting and providing all the services we offer. Our training and support will assist with the day-to-day activities. Security is a £12 billion industry and is growing, so the market holds plenty of opportunities.

Who is suited to running a cava guard franchise?

A Cava Guard franchise provides the vehicle for a franchisee to run their own business and shape their own future.

They will be able to pursue their own growth and, with our help, create a business that will provide significant recurring income.

An ideal candidate would be from a security or facilities management background, but that’s no barrier to succeeding in this market.

More important attributes are energy, motivation to succeed, positive engagement with potential clients, commercial awareness, the ability to use social media and digital resources to generate enquiries and a willingness to learn.

Security is a 24-hour business, so the willingness to work unsociable hours if required is necessary until the franchisee team is established fully.

How soon can a franchisee be up and running?

We anticipate a franchisee will be producing income within two to three months and they will be working with our marketing partners to generate enquiries and build a pipeline.

We give franchisees the chance to pay an optional fee as an initial budget for a launch campaign and a further ongoing marketing budget, which is also optional, to keep generating enquiries.

All our existing franchisees recouped their initial investment within two years via net profit generated.

How do you support and train your franchisees?

We provide a very comprehensive training schedule, including time with our officers to understand the services we provide.

We provide a big initial marketing campaign in conjunction with our marketing partners.

On an ongoing basis, we provide full-service support, including the back office support needed. We will invoice for our franchisees and even chase debtors for them.

Using our experience with our current franchisees, we will provide all the backup and ongoing training needed.

Within our head office team, we have around 50 years of security experience, as well as around 60 years of sales knowledge and, of course, significant business management experience. These support personnel are included in the royalty fees.

Plus, our franchise package includes the licence fee, an exclusive territory, two-week induction training, on-the-job induction training, industry training, product training, business mentoring and a lot more besides.

What is the level of investment needed?

We have based our franchise fee on counties or London boroughs to ensure all partners have the opportunity to flourish with our support.

Our franchises start from £28,500 (plus VAT) and we recommend around £12,000 working capital to start the journey with.

We do have some territories that would provide instant rewards, as we already have contracts in those areas that we would hand over. For example, we have enough existing business in Leicestershire to return the initial fee within the first year.

In fact, we would expect that particular franchise to start earning from the day after the training and induction have finished. We also have similar existing contracts in other areas too.

How does a potential franchisee find out more?

We would love to talk to anyone interested in finding out more either by telephone or face to face, regulations permitting.

Contact us at franchise@cavasecurity.co.uk and we will answer any questions you may have.