Matthew Holden had always dreamed of opening his own business. After completing a Master’s degree in Business Management in 2011, he fully intended to do just that. But the pull of working abroad, and later the joy and demands of family life, put those plans on hold.

That same year, Matthew moved to Saudi Arabia to join oil company Aramco as a Compliance Coordinator, a role he remained in for over a decade.

“I kind of got side-tracked,” he says. “I went there intentionally just for a year or two to get the money together to start a business, and then I met my wife in Bahrain. We later got married and had our kids there, so it took me a lot longer than planned to move back to the UK.”

Matthew returned to his hometown of Cheltenham in April 2025 and, after taking a six-month career break to help his wife and two boys – now aged eight and four – adjust to life in the UK, he finally began to pursue his long-held ambition.

“I started to look into the same work as I’d been doing in Saudi, but then I came across Pass the Keys, and I’m so glad I did.”

Freedom to put family first

Matthew knew he wanted to open a business, but not just any business – a property management business. 

“I’ve been a part-time landlord since about 2017, so I’ve always found the sector appealing,” he explains. “After arriving in the UK, my wife and I were originally going to buy a property in Italy and let it out on Airbnb. That didn’t happen, but I own a few properties in Cheltenham, so it made sense to seek out a property-related business.”

The budding entrepreneur also decided early on that he wanted to go down the franchising route, allowing him to access a proven business model, instant brand recognition and operational support.

“Having a young family, it would be difficult for me to build a business from scratch, so I think the franchise model suits me,” Matthew explains.

“It takes huge resources to set up on your own – time being one of the main ones. Franchising is also a safer route, especially if you have kids. I have an entrepreneurial spirit, but I also like to minimise risk, and the risks involved with starting an independent business versus a franchise is quite dramatically different, in terms of how long those businesses stay afloat. Franchising is a proven model for success.”

Matthew began his research by searching ‘property franchise’ online, and when he discovered Pass the Keys (PTK), he knew it was the perfect fit. 

“With my young kids being in school, I needed to have something that would allow me total flexibility to work around my family,” Matthew adds.

“I also wanted something that would give me a sense of ownership and something that I could build on and scale, and Pass the Keys ticked those boxes.”

Tech and peer support

When Matthew was carrying out his due diligence on PTK, he was impressed with the AI-powered technology on offer, which streamlines daily tasks and allows franchise partners to focus on providing quality services and scaling their business. 

“There’s a client portal for hosts and an app for managing the cleans and changeovers. I think the client portal in particular gives Pass the Keys a competitive advantage over other property management companies because it’s developed in-house and there’s a whole team behind it who can update it based on feedback,” he explains.

“One of the other plus points to the technology is that cleaners are required to take photos once they’ve completed a changeover. These photos are displayed on the client portal alongside the original professional photos, so the host can monitor the property and make sure that it’s still looking good. It gives them peace of mind.”

What also cemented Matthew’s decision to join the PTK network was the positive feedback he received from other franchise partners.

“I had lengthy discussions with about five other territories, just to get their perspectives on the business, so that was really useful.

“They were very open and honest about their journeys and at the end of each call, when I asked them if they were still happy with their decision to join Pass the Keys, every one of them said yes, adding that they still really enjoy running the business.”

Specialist training

Matthew is now in the process of setting up his PTK franchise in Cheltenham, after completing his in-house training. 

Explaining his training journey with head office, he says: “There were some pre-training tasks that I needed to carry out to get ready to run the business, such as having business telephone numbers in place, registering for VAT and organising bank accounts.

“I then had some virtual training sessions on the operational side of the business before heading to York to meet with the territory manager there and getting to know what’s required to run a Pass the Keys franchise day to day.”

He adds: “The following week, I did some remote training with David [Judd, Head of Marketing]. We looked at the different marketing activities that I’ll be doing and planned how I could position myself against the competition.

“Then, earlier this week, I went up to London for three days for sales training. That involved learning about the PTK sales system, and going over the techniques of explaining our services to potential hosts and responding to queries and concerns during an initial phone call or a viewing at a host’s property.”

Future ambitions

Just a few months after joining the PTK network, Matthew is looking forward to getting his business off the ground and has already made some ambitious plans for the Cheltenham franchise. 

“I have a target number of hosts in mind that I’d like to get on my books. Then, I intend to start building a team after six months to a year,” he says.

“I’d like to employ an operations manager or a sales manager, or even somebody who could take on both of those roles. This would allow me to focus on growing the business and looking at other revenue streams and potential partnerships. Cheltenham hosts lots of high-profile events, so developing partnerships with event organisers would be a good thing to focus on.”

Long-term, Matthew envisions developing his business into a saleable asset, but he’s not looking too far ahead into the future just yet.

“I may not sell the business – I may want to continue running it – but that’s one option. We’ll see how it goes.”

For now, Matthew is enjoying establishing his franchise while spending precious time with his family.

“Balancing work and family life is working out fine so far,” he says. “My wife started work last week and I’m doing the school run today.”

He adds: “I think it’s going to be a challenging couple of years before we get the team established, but things should improve from there. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and getting things moving.”

If you’d like to learn more about Pass the Keys’ franchise opportunities, request your free information pack here.