Case Study – Metro Rod North East

Name: Tricia Craig

Location: North East England (Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough)

Tricia Craig, head of the North-East England Metro Rod branch, has worked extremely hard to grow her business into the success that it is today. She told us a little more about her life prior to becoming a Metro Rod franchisee:

“I worked for some large companies both in their accounts team and training the new recruits. Once I had children, I spent some time at home with them before my ex-husband and I started the franchise with Metro Rod.”

“We had looked at different business options, but my husband at the time had a family member who was a Metro Rod franchisee and highly recommended the business. My ex-husband was offered the position of Managing Director at the newspaper that he was working at, but we had already set our hearts on going self-employed and investing in a Metro Rod franchise.”

Tricia told us a little more about what appealed to her about the Metro Rod franchise in particular:

“I truly believed that this would be a recession-proof business and would bring together all my skills from my past careers – the training, procedure writing, telephone complaints and customer service. I also felt that I could run this business with my ex-husband and still be the mother that I wanted to be to my two young children.”

“Being a franchisee has its benefits after 18 years, just as it did when I first started. The support that you get is second to none – I can ask for guidance and advice if I need it, and there will always be someone willing to help. Help is always available. I also get the opportunity to use IT systems which would be impossible for me to afford alone, and then of course there is the work that we get purely because of the Metro Rod name. I sell the reputation of Metro Rod to new clients along with the guarantee that we have a network of franchises that can help if we need them.”

So, with hard work and determination, investing in a Metro Rod franchise has really changed Tricia’s life for the better.

“We have a great team of people who want to take this business forward with me. I don’t look at anything and consider it failure; I look at how we can improve the business and build on the knowledge that the problem brings. “

“Metro Rod is not the right place if you want to make easy money, but if you are willing to work your back side off then you can build up a successful business. You must be dedicated to team work and this business will not work unless you are part of the team, on every level.”

Tricia also told us about her goals for the future: “I want to build Metro Rod up so that we are the first choice for any business in the North East when they have a drainage problem. I want to offer more people secure employment with Metro Rod. And I want to travel more.”

When we asked Tricia if she regretted anything about her Metro Rod journey and whether she would change anything about her experience, she said “No, I wouldn’t do anything differently and I have no regrets. I love my life – I work hard and I play hard. I have a nice lifestyle and take several holidays a year.”