Franchise Brands just splashed out £1m on a dog sitting business
Looking after man's best friend is far more lucrative than you might think. In fact, it's a near-million pound business in the UK…
Barking Mad, a company operating 71 dog-sitting franchises across the UK, has been snaffled up by Aim-quoted Franchise Brands in a deal that values the company at £900,000.
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The transaction is the first business Franchise Brands has wolfed down since its £16m float on the Aim this summer. Shares in Franchise Brands leapt over 12 per cent today following the announcement.
Stephen Hemsley, the executive chairman of Franchise Brands, was howling in delight at the news:
I am delighted to announce our first acquisition following the recent successful initial public offering. Barking Mad is the leading franchise provider of dog sitting services in the UK and its franchisees benefit from very high levels of customer satisfaction and repeat business.
Lee Dancy, who founded Barking Mad in 2000, will stay on to run the company that generated £155,000 of profit last year – the firm has 20,000 active customers.
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Do dogs really know what they are worth to their owners? (Source: Getty)
Franchisees pay a fee of £15,102 to operate for a term of five years, paying a further 10 per cent of earnings each month,
“The acquisition of Barking Mad fits very well with our stated strategy of acquiring franchise businesses which could benefit from our central services, while addressing the same business to customer market as our existing brands," said Hemsley.