This year, International Leadership Week is focusing on values. When it comes to franchising, the leadership team’s values will make or break someone’s decision to join the franchise network. Mike Ryan, Chief Executive of PACK & SEND UK, thinks it’s the brand’s ability to lead with a “no limits” culture that helps maintain their core values at every level of the business.

“We have a passion for delivering a great service so our clients feel confident that we can deliver anything anywhere. That same attitude is adopted when it comes to helping out franchisees deliver personal freedom through the success of their businesses. We’ve never lost sight of that in over 25 years of PACK & SEND in countries around the world. Here in the UK, we carry those brand values with pride throughout our leadership team and we expect our franchisees, as leaders of their own businesses, to follow suit.”

A values-lead brand brings two major benefits, says Ryan, “Firstly, nearly all of us work with a market where there are competitors and we’re no different - the UK’s logistics industry is said to be worth over £70billion. Standing out as a supplier of choice in what is often viewed as a commodity market requires a consistent approach and we focus on personalising the customer experience. Secondly, we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to setting up our franchisees in their first year in business. As well as installing one of our support team in the new unit for the first month of trading, we also match fund any marketing spend in the initial 12 months - when we say no limits, we mean it.”

Julian Starr, PACK & SEND’s franchisee for London Spitalfields, can attest to the values which have helped his franchise grow in his six years of business, “Customer retention is vital and is just as important as finding new customers. PACK & SEND are focused on excellent customer service and this has certainly been a good strategy for our business growth. It sounds simple but, if we provide a solution with ease for any packing or delivery job, our customers will keep coming back.”