Article contained within:  News, Drain Doctor Heads for the Sun

Drain Doctor Heads for the Sun

Drain Doctor Plumbing - the UK's largest emergency plumbing and drain repair service - is launching its unique franchised brand in Portugal.

Drain Doctor's success in the UK has been built on providing a 24 hours per day, 365 days per year guaranteed service in every part of the country with a fixed price 'menu' and no call-out or out-of-hours charges. Now the company is going to introduce the same levels of service in Portugal.

Company chairman Freddie Mitman explained: "We are lucky enough to have a holiday villa in Portugal - but were unlucky enough recently to have a problem with the drains which turned out to be the result of tree roots growing through the pipes.

"We were unable to get a competent plumber in Portugal to deal with the problem and, in fact, ended up flying out a CCTV drain inspection kit from the UK for a local contractor to use in locating and - eventually - fixing the problem.

"This incident set us thinking and a little research soon showed that our experience was far from unique. It was clear that there is a tremendous opportunity for a plumbing business which operates to the standards which Drain Doctor has established in the UK."

That view is endorsed by expatriate property manager Barbara Read who looks after many Portuguese villas owned by people from Britain and other countries. She said: "It is incredibly difficult to find competent tradespeople - and even more difficult to find ones who will turn up when they say they will.

"Many of the owners for whom we work let out their properties when they are not using them themselves. The last thing they or their tenants want when they have come for a fortnight in the sun is problems with the plumbing or hassle with plumbers.

"A service like the one Drain Doctor provides in the UK would be a revelation to local plumbers and could turn the whole industry upside down."

Franchising - like high levels of service in the plumbing business - is still little known in Portugal but Drain Doctor aims to be a pioneer in both these areas.

Initially the company is setting up a directly-owned operation in the Algarve to prove the concept for the Portuguese market. By the middle of this year it intends to have four fully-equipped vans on the road covering Faro, Albufeira, Portimao, Largos and Sagres. Once that business has been successfully trading for a while, Drain Doctor will start to sell franchises, beginning in the north of the country and then working south.

Freddie Mitman said: "This is the way we started in the UK and we aim to do the same in Portugal. It is important to be able to show potential franchisees that the system works and delivers real business results.

"The key to success, though, will be delivering the same standards in Portugal as we deliver in the UK."

Brian Smart, director general of the British Franchise Association, said: "High standards are just as important in the business of franchising as they are in the business of plumbing.

"Drain Doctor Plumbing is a great business, a great example of sharing the benefits of success with local franchise owners working with the support and within the quality systems of their franchisor. That same formula makes franchising a powerful way of establishing a successful UK business in Portugal where most of the equity and most of the profit will remain with the Portuguese franchisees."

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