Joining a franchise means starting with a proven business model, strong brand recognition, and expert support – dramatically reducing the risk of business ownership. Unlike independent start-ups, where nearly 50% fail within three years, UK franchises boast an astonishingly low failure rate of just 0.5% (source: British Franchise Association survey 2024). With group buying power and easier access to finance, franchising is one of the safest and smartest paths to business ownership.

Franchisees benefit from strong brand recognition, award-winning support, and comprehensive training – no prior industry experience is needed. With top businesses generating over £3m annual turnover (average £1.3m) and high customer satisfaction, it’s a scalable, profitable opportunity.

Backed by ISO-accredited processes and innovative technology, Driver Hire provides the tools and guidance to help you succeed. Ideal for ambitious, sales-driven individuals seeking a secure investment with long-term growth potential.

It’s important to have transferable skills which will help you manage your team, deliver great customer service, and help you win new clients and candidates.

Our best franchisees are self-motivated, ambitious people with a ‘can do’ attitude. They are good team leaders and effectively manage and support their staff. They are also good at building business relationships and inspiring the confidence of customers. Also, they take advantage of the support available from Driver Hire Group Services and fellow franchisees.

You don’t need previous experience in transport or in recruitment – our in-depth training and support gives you all the knowledge and skills required.

The profit generated by your Driver Hire business will depend on several key factors, including your personal effort, business activity levels, and how well you look after your clients and candidates.

The average turnover of a Driver Hire business in 2024/25 was £1.3m, and top businesses achieved well over £3m. Provided your fixed costs (staff, premises, finance, and general office overheads) are controlled effectively, then a pre-tax net profit of between 10% and 15% is very achievable for mature/developed Driver Hire businesses.

As a Driver Hire franchisee, you’ll run a recruitment business supplying customers with temporary and permanent workers. You’ll also match candidates with suitable work and fair rewards, balancing the needs of both customers and candidates.

Your role is primarily leadership and business development: building relationships, winning new business, and ensuring a steady supply of quality candidates. You’ll manage and motivate your office team to deliver excellent service while overseeing key financial tasks such as invoicing and payroll, often with support from a bookkeeper or accountant.

Successful franchising is built upon the strength of the business partnership between franchisor and franchisee. From day one and throughout the term of your franchise we will provide comprehensive support, to help you build and manage a highly profitable business.

We employ over 70 staff at Driver Hire Group Services and you will receive support with marketing, national accounts, IT systems and support, finance, and compliance. An Area Development Manager will visit your office and provide practical sales support.

You can also tap into the vast experience of a network of experienced and supportive franchise owners.

The investment level varies significantly, depending on the business you purchase, but you are likely to need a minimum of £30,000 of your own funds.

A new start business has the lowest entry cost, but you will need working capital to help support you across your early trading period.

Given the Driver Hire network is mature (we’ve been franchising since 1987), most new Driver Hire franchisees buy an existing business. Previous resales have ranged from £40,000 to over £500,000.

Most new franchisees borrow additional funds from a bank or other lender, to support their purchase. See next FAQ for further information.

Banks and other lenders are very supportive of franchising, and of Driver Hire franchise opportunities specifically. Major high street banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and NatWest) have specialist franchise teams and recognise Driver Hire as a premium franchise brand. Accordingly, banks will typically lend up to 70% of the capital you need to purchase a Driver Hire business.

It is vital that we meet the needs of our transport and logistics sector customers, many of whom have vehicles and drivers on the road outside of standard office hours. Driver Hire’s competitive advantage has been built around excellent local service, and this means being available to supply a driver for an emergency, any time of day or night.

Outside of standard Monday to Friday office hours, calls are diverted to a mobile phone. It’s up to the individual franchisee to manage the ‘on-call’ rota, providing all calls are answered promptly, 24/7, by you or a member of your team.

No. A Driver Hire franchise is not a part-time, supplementary, or lifestyle business. To be a successful Driver Hire franchisee you will need to be 100% personally involved and devote your full time to the business.

Driver Hire is a professional recruitment service provider and needs to be operated from commercial office premises. It is not a home-based franchise. You will need good quality offices with sufficient space for your team to work, and for candidate registrations (for those candidates who visit the office to register, rather than registering via the digital registration tools).

Whilst we have many long-serving franchisees, every franchisee will leave at some stage – perhaps to take on a different challenge, travel abroad, sell the business for a capital gain, or simply retire and enjoy the rewards of their endeavours. It’s the natural lifecycle of a franchisee.

Due to our network size, and the lifecycle of franchisees, there are always excellent opportunities for new people to join our business. We still have several new start opportunities, and there are always franchised businesses for sale (not all of them listed on our website). The best way to learn more is to submit an enquiry form or phone the franchise sales team on 01274 361035.

It’s a major decision to buy a business, so we’re here to help and support you, not rush you.

After contacting Driver Hire, you will receive an email with further information from the franchise team. We’d love to talk to you to help you learn even more, so a conversation with the franchise sales team is the next step. This could progress to further conversations, a meeting, a visit to Driver Hire Group Services etc.

If we both feel confident that Driver Hire could be the right opportunity, we will help with your further research and due diligence. This will involve conversations with Driver Hire franchisees, producing a financial plan (we can help), conversations with lenders regarding funding, agreeing a deal with the seller etc.

Once a sale is agreed, we then provide dedicated support to help guide both the buyer (and seller, if there is a seller) through the practical sale tasks. This includes initial training and handover support.

Each of the above can take weeks and months. It’s typical for the whole process to take between 5 to 9 months to complete.