Queensland-based home service franchise, Gutter Knight is expanding interstate after announcing a new franchise signing in Melbourne.
The latest expansion sees the residential and commercial gutter and leaf guard solutions provider head to Victoria for the first time, after a lengthy recruitment search.
David Myles, Gutter Knight director said the Victorian expansion was an exciting opportunity for the brand to make in-roads on a national scale.
“Being we are QLD based, this is a big move for our franchise group and one that we are very excited about. It has taken a couple of years to find the right person to partner with to take Gutter Knight to Melbourne,” Myles said.
At present, Gutter Knight has 15 locations spread across South-East Queensland, Northern New South Wales, Sydney and Western Australia, with the latest Melbourne signing marking a sign of things to come.
“Our plan is to have four locations in Melbourne; it’s been a market that we’ve been trying to get into for quite some time, obviously there’s heaps of people there and a real need for the service,” Myles said.
“We did a lot of research into the area and found that while a lot of the other large gutter businesses had presence there, it was a big opportunity for us. You get four seasons in one day, lots of trees, lots of bushfires, emphasis on health and safety, lots of animals and vermin, so a similar environment to what you would see up here in Queensland.”
The Gutter Knight recruitment process has been extensive; the latest signing has taken upwards of two years, however, Myles suggests formulating a strong franchise culture has been pivotal to the brand’s success.
“You’ve got to be ethical and align with our values, we make no compromise on that. I think we made some mistakes in the early days, let people into the business that we probably shouldn’t have, and had to exit them accordingly,” Myles said.
“We’re very close as a team and as a culture, so I think that’s been really important to our continued success. Instead of having 30 people in the network, where some are unhappy or the model doesn’t suit them, we have 15 people and everyone’s happy. We were willing to forego speed of growth to focus on having a strong culture and network.”
After a sustained period of franchise success, the brand is staying focused on growth, with Myles also revealing a new franchise signing for Canberra.
“We’re actually just about to launch our first site in Canberra as well, , we’ve been blessed with the partners and opportunities we’ve been presented with.”