One Stop drive franchise operations forward with new recruitment team

Retail convenience brand One Stop is capitalising on the growth of the industry and its own franchise model with the creation of a recruitment team to help deliver the company’s ambitious franchise growth plans.

Matt Elliott, 47 has been promoted into the new role of National Recruitment Manager and will lead the new team of five experts who, between them all, have over 150 years of experience in the retail sector.

One Stop started its franchise operations in 2013 and the business has seen strong growth ever since, with a portfolio now of well over 200 stores. As it moves into its sixth year of operations, nearly all the current franchisees are signing for another five years and reaping the rewards of joining the business, which prides itself on creating unrivalled opportunities though its award-winning scheme.

Matt has worked for One Stop for six years, previously as Operations Controller, so knows the business well, but has also built up a wealth of experience within the retail sector. As he explains: “I was elated to be given the opportunity to take on this role, as I know how much One Stop want to drive the franchise business. They are putting their trust in myself and the new team to deliver these growth and quality plans and move forward with the next phase of the brand. So, it’s a really exciting time.”

The new recruitment team also includes Jim Carroll (Scotland), Bill Nelson (North West), Shaun Dale (Midlands), Raj Sathi (South East) and Debra Allen (South East Midlands). Asked about how the team will work across the different regions, Matt explains: “The focus team has been put in place with a geographical split. This will allow us to get to people quicker and allow me to look at the strategy of recruiting and exploring new opportunities. Previously I had dual roles within the One Stop business, so recruitment was only part of my job, whereas now I’ll be able to cover a greater breadth and be much more tactical.

“We have so many enquiries for the One Stop franchise model as people can see how well the businesses run for others and they want be a part of this. So having a whole team of experts in place to welcome new retailers to the One Stop franchise family was the natural step forwards. Dedicating ourselves to recruitment as a team – across all corners of the UK – will get franchisees onboard quicker and we can work with them on all their bespoke questions and regionalised requests. Having that specific geographical knowledge will be incredibly valuable.”

John Miller head of franchise at One Stop explains the driver for installing the new team: “The results we’ve seen from our franchisees over the last five years have been astounding and as we come out of lockdown we’re maximizing the momentum we’ve gained to move into a new phase of growing the franchise business. In today’s dynamic market retailers are becoming more demanding of their brand partner and we’ve now got the right team and the right proposition in place to meet those demands. Matt’s extensive experience in the convenience industry makes him the perfect choice to lead the way and he has an exceptional team to really focus on the future.”