Nick Furlong was 22 and his girlfriend Gemma Hextall was just 21 when they bought re-sale franchise Razzamataz Sutton Coldfield in September 2015.
They were both in the final year of study at Birmingham School of Acting when the opportunity arose. After a week’s intensive training they took over the school with 38 students.
After they applied all their learnings from training, they re-launched and gained a further 78 students. By year two, they had doubled their school’s size to 141 students, in September 2017 they had 209 students and then September 2018 it was 272 students. Currently, Razzamataz Sutton Coldfield has more than 300 students.
Nick and Gemma have now used their platform to continue to drive their passion forward and talk to more people about the benefits of franchising. Nick explains: “Neither of us opened a theatre school for financial gains but of course we are extremely happy that it has allowed us to buy our own home and get married this August. For people like me who are ambitious and driven but don’t necessarily have natural academic abilities, the franchise route allows individuals to succeed.” Gemma adds: “Business is all about passion and that’s what we have. We have learnt so much about business and that’s all thanks to franchising.”
Although Razzamataz re-sale schools rarely come on to the market, due to personal reasons, there is now an exceptional opportunity to purchase Razzamataz Reading. This pre-existing premises has great facilities and a community of around 50 students across four classes; Mins, Juniors, Inters and Seniors.
Razzamataz Reading is also very well situated for the new owner who could commute to the school every week during term time. It is 42 miles west of central London, 28 miles from Oxford and 20 miles from Slough.
Razzamataz Theatre School is a franchise business that shot to prominence in 2007 after an investment from Duncan Bannantyne on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. There are almost 50 part-time theatre schools up and down the country with more opening each year. Whether you are buying an existing Razzamataz Theatre School or a brand new franchise, the training you will receive is the same and will enable you to be a confident owner of a performing arts school. Every aspect will be covered from PR and Marketing and Social Media, through to the latest in child legislation and practical info on how to lead your team and manage behaviour in class.
Throughout your Razzamataz journey, you will be given regular training and support plus access to many experts and of course the industry contacts which includes masterclasses with street dance crew Diversity and Broadway and West End star Kerry Ellis to name a few.
Part of the success of the Razzamataz brand is down to being part of a franchise network that allows you to have the creativity to run your own business and have the resources of a highly successful organisation right at your fingertips. The includes high level partnerships with the likes of Disneyland Paris, Eurocamp, The Stage, Warner Bros, the 02, and Her Majesty’s Theatre.
“Franchising opened our eyes to what can be achieved and meeting other young franchisees showed us there was a very clear route to success,” says Nick. “We have support mentors that keep reminding you that you are on the right track and the whole system is there to take away any doubts in your mind. Without franchising, I think we would have got a few weeks in and just been overwhelmed and thought that we were too young, and it wasn’t realistic for us.”
Across the UK, Razzamataz is currently delivering classes to more than 5,200 children and some of our most ambitious franchisees are turning over a six figure revenue. The set up allows Principals to design their weekly schedule around their own commitments, especially beneficial to working mums who will enjoy having all the school holidays off to spend with their children. For two years running, franchisees have given Razzamataz a 5 star satisfaction rating in the Smith & Henderson survey.
For peace of mind, Razzamataz is proud to be members of the bfa (British Franchise Association) and EWIF (Encouraging Women in Franchising) and are exceptionally proud that we won in two categories at the prestigious bfa Awards 2018 and have been nominated in two categories in the upcoming EWIF awards. Razzamataz also recently gained accreditation to the Children’s Activities Association.
Razzamataz is a franchise network that will be celebrating 20 years of business in 2020. Franchisees come from a range of backgrounds including former performers, teachers, mums returning to work and young graduates. As a brand, Razzamataz work with many leading players in the performing arts industry and can offer franchisees great contacts to help them grow their own schools.
To find out more about joining our team of Principals and the finance needed to purchase Razzamataz Reading, click the yellow button below.
