The Joy of Running a Family Business

Celebrated for their achievements amongst the wider FASTSIGNS family, our Leeds franchise is owned by a father-and-son team who aim to be the very best.

The FASTSIGNS Leeds franchise launched in the mid-1990s and is a little more “family” than most, with the father and son team working side-by-side to build a successful family business.

In the mid-nineties, Chris was made redundant from a high-level management career, when he came across the opportunity of owning a FASTSIGNS business. Andy, who was in his early twenties at the time, joined his father on the journey to becoming their own boss. Andy comments, “I was 25 when Chris discovered FASTSIGNS, I thought it would be a fantastic way for me to become a business owner. An opportunity I recognise, wouldn’t have come along had he not investigated franchising. I was intrigued by the FASTSIGNS opportunity, because signage seemed like a creative and technical operation to be involved in, even in 1995.”

When they first started working together, Chris and Andy needed to sort out how to split the responsibilities and balance their relationship as both business partners and as father and son. “Andy and I are equal in our roles”, comments Chris. “In the beginning, we may have had a few teething problems, but we quickly established work is work and home is home. By following some simple rules, we’ve built an effective working relationship which has a different dynamic to our familial one.”

Both father and son have crafted individual focuses for themselves, in their day-to-day working remit. Andy concentrates on the creative aspect of the business, as well as on building the team and looking after the centre staff, while Chris is naturally more interested in the financial side of it.

“By having clearly defined roles, we run our ‘departments’ keeping each other up to date as we would any other team member. When making strategic decisions for the business, we work together, we’ve established into our roles comfortably and learned how best to tackle any issues, so we always do what is best for our business.”

Early in the business’ establishment, Andy also joined the FASTSIGNS UK Support Team, working for three years as a business consultant, advising other franchisees on best practices, which meant he was also able to learn about the wider FASTSIGNS business. This experience is what has made him a pillar of the FASTSIGNS community and a steadfast choice for other franchisees to approach for support and advice. Andy continues to work on behalf of the network, having previously taken an active role on the Central Marketing Fund board; the Leeds Centre often tests incoming technologies before they’re released to the wider network. He also assists with training new franchisees, when they first join the network.

Over their many, many successful years, The FASTSIGNS Leeds team have developed a customer-focused business, contributing considerably to the signage of their territory. Chris and Andy delight in walking around Leeds and seeing their work on display. Andy comments, “For example, Leeds train station asked us to work on more than 75 signage projects over the years. These range from practical signs directing users around the station, as well as displays which show off our creative flair. So when we recently collected a number of awards at both the UK and International conventions, they’re a testament to the great job our team provides to all our customers. The awards we’ve won have been for our sales achievements, my contributions to FASTSIGNS UK’s marketing efforts, and then we also picked up the CEO Circle Award for achieving the highest sales volume across the FASTSIGNS UK Network! Pretty good for a local Yorkshire family business.”

Every member of the FASTSIGNS Leeds team, many of whom have been with the business for decades, share the same goal: providing the best signs or graphics to exceed individual customer’s requirements. Chris expands on this thought, “This is really where franchising has helped us the most. As a brand, FASTSIGNS has an eye on the future. Initially, signs were hand-cut and made from layered vinyl. As time has progressed technology has advanced, and so have our capabilities. FASTSIGNS, as a franchisor, tests equipment, substrates, and methodology, then advise us on how to implement them into our business, so we stay competitive and consistently skilled.”

It helps as the values of the family permeate through the values of the business, as Andy explains, “Our centre is really a family concern, with four family members having worked in it, including my wife, Diane, and my mother, Chris’ wife, Catherine. One summer, we had three generations working side-by-side when my oldest son spent his summer with us! There was a moment when Jack and I were carrying out a survey for a new art installation at Leeds station, and I asked him to write down the measurements. Being of the next generation his response to me was, ‘No! I’ll type them into my phone and email them to you.’ He’s teaching me, as much as we’re teaching him. This is the beauty of running a family business.”

It’s not just relatives who’ve become part of that “family” at FASTSIGNS Leeds, either. Both their lead designer, and their head salesperson, have been with them for almost as long as the business has been running. We could not be prouder of how the Leeds team inspire their staff to enjoy long-term job security and encourage them to grow and flourish alongside the business. 

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