Due to the Covid pandemic, it has been hard enough to meet people that the company already does business with, let alone meeting potential new franchisees.  Existing new franchisees have had to work around restrictions, so it has been great to even be thinking about meeting up with new ones.

Early October saw an easyStorage team at the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC.

This team included Franchise Director Nigel Dawson​, CEO Tim Slesinger, Franchise Development & Local Marketing Manager Conrad Gibbons, Head of UK Franchising James Thomas, Storage Solutions Specialist Sonia Arjan and Social Media and Content Manager Alex Fulcher.

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Unfortunately, this chance for easyStorage to show off its exciting franchise opportunity fell on the weekend of a national fuel crisis. Despite this, the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC was still well attended. Whilst easyStorage is always happy to talk to people at events – everyone, after all, needs extra storage at some point in their lives - what stood out was the extremely high quality of potential franchisees this year. Delegates who attended had made the effort – and, of course, used their precious fuel to arrive - because they were seriously interested in investing in a business opportunity.

The HSBC Multi-Unit Franchise Conference, where easyStorage Franchise Director, Nigel Dawson​, was speaking, ran concurrent with the event. Many of those attending, primarily serious serial franchisees, who had heard Nigel speak, made a point of visiting the easyStorage stand.

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Being bright orange with a huge orange truck parked on it, easyStorage stands are always eye-catching at events. However, all credit goes to Conrad Gibbons for pulling it all together and delivering an exceptionally good stand as well as to behind the scenes easyStorage Transport and Training Manager, Toby Heran, who both delivered the van, sparkling clean, to the NEC stand and collected it at the end of the show.

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The stand was made even more interesting by The Arnold Sports Festival happening at the same time. The team had to redirect some very large, very muscled, body builders to another hall. Unfortunately Arnold himself didn’t make it this year, but next year, who knows?

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easyOrange clearly runs through the team’s veins.  They stayed in an easyHotel in Birmingham for the nights. During the exhibition they also met up with fellow easyGroup member Jasbir Dosanjh, the Sales Director of easyTaxi.

Rumour has it that whilst the team was working hard by day, they were also playing hard by night. It fell to Alex and Sonia to ensured that all were on their best behaviour: we are lead to believe that James was a dab hand in the casino, with the team joined by both Jim Cherry of Iveco (who supply the easyStorage vans) and Gavin Brownlie of Tekbo who build the bespoke van bodies. In truth, we feel that rumours of their huge success there may have been subject to some ‘Chinese Whispers’:  despite the purported success, just how successful they are at ‘casinoing’ remains a moot issue. None of them have jetted off to new villas in the Caribbean. (Yet!)

Their success as an easyStorage team, however, is tangible. The team fully expects to be launching new franchises early next year in the Midlands and North of England thanks to this exhibition.

Our hardworking team deserved to have a little fun -  the true work starts for them now, as they plan to head out for a series of roadshow Discovery Days, already scheduled, to take easyStorage out to potential franchisees both from this event and from other places.

We wish them every success.

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Find out more about the easyStorage franchise and request information about the Discovery Days here.