You are here: Prospectus
Welcome to DAVIS COLEMAN
This prospectus aims to acquaint you with a good initial understanding of our business. One of the significant points for you to consider is that all of our Directors and other shareholders are also proprietors of their own Davis Coleman Area Office.
From our first-hand experience, therefore, we really do appreciate how important it is for you to take the right decision and we certainly understand your expectations of a good franchise in relation to effective training, ongoing backup and realistic potential to achieve personal success. Having commenced operations in 1995, Davis Coleman is a well established franchise, with efficient and well tried systems and procedures, and British Franchise Association accreditation.
Having read these notes, you may well conclude we are somewhat different to other franchises, especially with regard to the interesting, rewarding, yet distinctly out-of-the-ordinary our Franchisees undertake. In pursuing your interest, you will naturally have questions arising which we will try to answer comprehensively.
We look forward to meeting you in the near future.
Please click here for a list of available franchise areas.
THE SCOPE OF DAVIS COLEMAN'S BUSINESS
As a Davis Coleman Franchisee, you provide a wide range of specialist services to the banking, building society, insurance and legal sectors. The activities you undertake on behalf of clients includes:
Means Reports
Interviewing parties to establish their financial circumstances and preparing reports for your client.
Trace Enquiries
Locating the whereabouts of parties and notifying your clients.
Cheque Book and Credit Card Recovery
Visiting parties to collect cheque books, credit cards and debit cards as per your client
instructions.
Property Reports Relating to Repossessions
- (i) Providing bank and building society clients with reports detailing the condition and occupancy of properties intended to be repossessed.
- (ii) Attending repossessed properties to ensure they are fully secure, according to your client's instructions.
Process Serving
The service of Court and other documents, in accordance with legal procedures.
Acting as Crown Court or County Court Agent and "Court Waiting"
Attending court as a legal clerk on behalf of a solicitor client and working with the barrister appointed to the case.
Preparing Accident Reports
Attending a scene of a road traffic accident/personal injury and preparing a report for your client including photographs and a plan drawing.
Statement Taking
Meeting injured parties and witnesses and taking their statements on behalf of your client.
THE DAVIS COLEMAN ORGANISATION
Size
Davis Coleman has grown to be a major player in its field. As at September 2002, when this prospectus was published, no less than 45 area offices had become established in England & Wales, each individually owned and operated.
Ownership
The company was formed by its shareholders, the majority of whom continue to run their own Davis Coleman offices on an individual basis. The Directors are fully experienced in every aspect of the business and have responsibility for Franchisee Training and Continuing Support, and for development generally.
Structure
Operations are very much in the hands of Franchisees, who deal with all matters in their respective territories. The support and co-ordination functions are centrally located at our headquarters at Ongar, in Essex.
AS A FRANCHISOR:
DAVIS COLEMAN Limited is responsible for providing a well structured package of training, with the objective of your becoming fully competent to operate each of the specialist services you offer to your clients. The course is undertaken at our headquarters in Ongar and is followed by further training days in your area.
We back up your efforts with an ongoing programme of management support which keeps you up-to-date on all issues relating to your activities and aims to assist you in developing and maintaining your business at optimum performance.
An especially important element of the support programme concerns marketing. Our National Accounts Department develops and maintains relationships with the major banks, building companies at head office level. The resulting business is referred immediately for action by the Franchisee responsible for the area concerned.
AS A FRANCHISEE:
You are responsible for setting up an office to serve your territory.
Typically this will be at your home, avoiding the unnecessary overheads of commercial
premises. To get you started, such is the extent of our National Accounts business, it is likely that we shall be able to refer client requirements quite quickly. We cannot go so far as to guarantee to do so, but in practice virtually all our franchisees benefit both initially and ongoing from major clients, who make use of Davis Coleman services on a national basis. In your own interests, it is necessary to develop a client base within your area and we will train and assist you in addressing potential opportunities with local professional firms: solicitors, accountants, insolvency practitioners, etc.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The cost of setting up:
A breakdown of establishment costs, which is comprehensively detailed and itemises everything necessary for you to get started as a Davis Coleman Franchise, can be obtained from our Head Office.
The prospective return:
Also available from our Head office is a brief illustration trading projection. In considering this franchise further, you will of course require more detail, which we will provide in confidence. Please note that while Franchisee performance cannot be assured, much being dependent on each individual's efforts, all financial projections we provide are based not on theory but actual track record achieved in this Davis Coleman network.
Could YOUR business future be with DAVIS COLEMAN?
First and foremost, previous experience in our sphere of activity is not a requirement. Our established Franchisees are men and women from a wide variety of backgrounds, including banking, engineering, retailing and the armed services. What is more important than experience are attributes relating to being a good communicator, having some clerical/administrative knowledge, being prepared to travel as necessary within your area and having a tenacious, disciplined approach. Honesty, integrity and reliability are essential qualities.
As a Franchisee, you may operate alone or together with your spouse, if you wish. The Davis Coleman franchise offers an excellent opportunity to enterprising couples who want to run a business together.
A cordial invitation...
Please come and see us, so that we can go into further detail in confidence. You are of course most welcome to bring along your spouse or partner if you wish. As explained, Davis Coleman is a mature franchise and following an initial meeting, we will be pleased to introduce you to established Franchisees, to give you a further understanding of this unusually interesting business and its excellent income potential.
Interested? Then for more information please email franchise@daviscoleman.com indicating if you wish to speak to someone about this opportunity giving your daytime and evening telephone numbers.
Email us on: head.office@daviscoleman.com Credit Services Association British Franchise Association