OXFORD COUPLE ARE THE FIRST FRANCHISEES TO SELL  £1MILLION IN A CALENDAR YEAR 

Dream Doors has been franchising for over a decade. The Hampshire-based company now has more than 50 showrooms nationwide, making it the UK's largest kitchen facelift retailer. Oxford franchisees, Elaine and Mike Hurley, have become the first to top one million pounds in annual sales.

The Hurleys, who operate from a showroom in Abingdon, had achieved just over £936,000 by the end of November. But, admits Mike, they weren't sure they'd bring in enough sales to hit the million pound mark in December, traditionally the quietest time of the year.

“It had already been a remarkable year,” says Mike. “By the summer we'd set ourselves a target of £900,000, which was £100,000 more than the previous year. And we hit that with one month spare. Of course, we really wanted to clear a million pounds but, with £65,000 needed in December, it didn't look likely.

“In the end we took £78,000 of orders before Christmas – including three very big kitchens – and another couple of facelifts later in December to finish the year on £1,021,000!”

He adds: “We were asked to speak at Dream Doors' Annual Conference at the end of 2010, and I said a million pounds was achievable. I'm pleased we've done it, and that we were the first to do it, but we certainly won't be the last.”

Like most Dream Doors franchisees, Elaine and Mike didn't have any kitchen industry experience before starting their business back in September 2009. Since then they have sold more than £3million pounds of kitchen makeovers – and that includes six months of working from home. The couple have broken every record held within the 15-year-old brand, achieving an incredible £187,000 sales in one month back in September 2012.

Dream Doors specialises in kitchen makeovers, but sells everything required to fit out a full kitchen as well. Most customers choose replacement doors, new worktops and a sink and taps – saving at least half the cost of a comparable kitchen. What's more, the work can be professionally installed in just a couple of days.

The company is seeking new recruits for its management franchise, and will be on stand F10 at the National Franchise Exhibition, NEC, Birmingham on 14^th and 15^th February.