Interested in starting your own business as a franchisee at Premier Education? 

With over 22 years of experience as a franchisor, we’ve had plenty of time to perfect the process.

Applying to become a franchisee is kept as simple and straightforward as possible, and we take care to ensure that each step forward is the right one for all parties. We want people to make informed decisions, and offer potential franchisees constant support throughout the process.

Here, we will briefly detail why Premier Education is a great choice for potential franchisees –and if starting a franchise business is right for you – followed by a quick breakdown of how to become a franchisee with a step-by-step guide.

Why Premier Education?

We’re the UK’s No. 1 provider of sports and physical activities to primary schools, meaning you will be part of a wide network. As the market leader, we have partnered with 2,500 schools in the UK.

Many franchisees at Premier Education have been with us for years, and their businesses are still growing. We have franchisees turning over £1m a year, and that’s the aspiration we want for everybody who joins us.

One of our most valuable assets is the knowledge and experience which is shared between our most established members. As your parent company, we are also able to offer our franchisees extensive support and training, with a centralised marketing and sales team offering their expertise.

To put business aside for a moment, joining the physical activity sector allows you to have a positive impact on the lives of young people. It’s a rewarding business venture that helps the youngest in our communities to learn and grow.

Is starting a franchise business right for you?

As a franchisee with Premier Education, you will become a business owner, with all the responsibilities that entails.

Starting your own business is a big step, and just a few aspects to consider are that you will need to make a thorough business plan, have – or secure – start-up capital, and hire staff to find success with this business model.

Franchising has many benefits that starting a typical small business doesn’t, however, as you receive support and training from the very beginning of your experience with Premier Education. One of the clearest benefits of franchise opportunities is that many of the struggles of a new business are not applicable to you.

• You will be working with an established and leading brand.
• Much of the burden of marketing and sales is out of your hands, as we have a dedicated centralised team for both.
• We offer excellent training, with access to resources and expertise from other professionals that would otherwise be out of reach.
• Finding potential customers in your local market is made easier with a familiar brand name and our expert sales team.
• Our new franchises can rely on the services of a franchisee mentor for the first 14 months, with ongoing support from head office.
• Access to coach candidate database – hiring staff is made easier with the database, which has thousands of names of people who have applied to work for Premier Education. A franchisee mentor will also help you with the recruitment process.
• After finding success with franchising with us, you can expand to owning multiple franchises over multiple territories.

Not a coaching role

If you’re more interested in the coaching side of working with Premier Education, and see that as your primary role, starting a franchise may not be the right choice. Unless you have a more business-minded partner, you will find that running the business will consume the majority of your time, with very little time left over for coaching.

10 steps to becoming a franchise owner with Premier Education

We’ve had 22 years to perfect the application process, and we find that being honest, straightforward and keeping it simple is the best way to go.

To be awarded a Premier Education franchise, we need to be the right match. Each of the stages is an opportunity to move closer to starting your franchise, but also to step back if it’s not the right choice.

If you reach the last of the 10 steps listed below, congratulations are in order – you will have officially started your journey as a franchisee with us!

1. Register your interest on the website

Simply fill in the form on our franchisee page to signal your interest. This is a straightforward, non-committal stage for you to register your interest and receive some additional information about what becoming a franchisee with Premier Education involves.

2. We will send you a short questionnaire

Using the contact details you provided in the form, we will send you a short questionnaire that aims to establish if we’re a good fit.

This will have some general information, including:

• A little bit about yourself.
• Why you are interested.
• Potential franchise location – when selecting new locations and the latest franchise opportunities, we have to consider the exclusive territories of our existing franchisees. If you’re in an occupied territory, you may need to be more flexible: though it’s very unusual for this to be a deciding factor.

3. You will subsequently receive a brochure

Following the questionnaire, you will receive an informative brochure that explores what becoming a franchisee involves in greater depth.

It includes some information on Premier Education as a company, insights from other established franchisees, and further information about starting your own franchise. As is commonplace in the franchise industry, there will be an initial franchise fee, which is also disclosed in the brochure.

4. Start a conversation with one of our franchise consultants

If, after reading the brochure, you are keen to find out more about the franchise, you will have a great opportunity to do so during a call with one of our franchise consultants.

This is still a very early stage of the process, and gives us a chance to have an honest and open conversation: we can answer any questions that may not have been answered in the brochure, and find out more about your ideas on running a business, potential territories and other, early-doors information.

5. Discuss with other franchisees

When making a big decision, it’s best to get advice from people with experience. If you wish to get some insight from people that were once in your shoes, we can put you in contact with one of our current franchisees.

By this stage, an NDA will have been signed for the information you have become privy to, so you can feel free to discuss anything at all with our other franchisees. We can arrange for you to speak on the phone or see how they operate in person with a visit to one of their sites.

6. Agreements on finances and territory

Following a few more discussions with a franchise consultant, you will need to reach an agreement on the financial aspects of starting your new business and the exclusive territory you will occupy.

7. You will be sent a detailed NDA which contains all the details of the franchise, and put down a deposit to secure the territory and continue

For many people starting new franchises, this is when it starts to feel ‘real’. You will be given an NDA document disclosing all the details of the franchise.

After all the discussions and decision-making, it’s time to actually invest and start your business officially. You will put down a deposit to secure the new location covered by your franchise; a practice common with most franchisors.

8. Form a 24-month business plan – with our help

This is one of the most crucial stages in the application process, and is often where the long hours can come in. You need to create a 24-month business plan – one that incorporates all the financial aspects of your business.

You need to consider the total costs of maintaining your lifestyle and to pay staff during that timespan. You won’t be alone in the process; you’ll be assigned an independent business planning partner to help you create your plan.

To finalise your plan, there are a few legal obligations; you will need independent verification, typically through either an accountant or lawyer.

9. Secure funding

You may already have the funds needed to start your business, but many will need to secure funding – for the franchise fee and the initial investment required.

You can do your own research on the best options for funding, but we are also on hand to offer advice. We have established relationships with the franchise teams at many high street banks, as well as our partners at Franchise Finance. As we have full membership with the British Franchise Association (BFA), you will have access to preferential bank finance packages.

10. Begin your Premier Education journey

The final step is to be officially complete as a franchisee with us. To officially begin your new franchise business with Premier Education, you will need to sign the franchise agreement; this initial franchise agreement term is for five years.

Though signing the contract is the end of the first stage of your Premier Education journey, it’s only the start of your experience as a franchisee with us. After you sign your contract, you will begin induction training, and from there you can utilise the close mentorship of an experienced member of our team.

At Premier Education, we know what it takes for our franchisee businesses to find success: we aim for franchisees to hire employees and be focused in business development within 3 years.

It’s the start of a new chapter in your life, and for us, an exciting new addition to the Premier Education network. We know our franchisees are just as eager to get started as we are!

Get started with step 1 today – register your interest on our franchising opportunities page.