Kwik Kopy has taken direct control of two of its Melbourne shops after their franchisees went into liquidation this week.
The Fitzroy and St Kilda Road businesses were owned by John, Sue and Michael Lindley until their company Olympus Forge collapsed. John and Sue had been retired for the past three years but had recently returned to help their son run the franchises.
Kwik Kopy chief executive David Bell says the underlying businesses are sound and the owners had simply been loaded up with too much debt to stay afloat.
“We are confident that these are good businesses and they have the backing of a strong team dedicated to their success,” he says.
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Bell says the businesses are still trading under the direction of national sales director John Sexton and barely missed a beat, only closing for Monday when the liquidation occurred.
He says Kwik Kopy will run the shops directly until they are satisfied the businesses are stable enough to be franchised to a carefully selected new owner, a process that can take up to 18 months.
“We will take the businesses under our wing, fix them up, make them better and then find new owners we are confident can run them effectively,” he says.
“The plan is to recapitalise and rebuild the businesses while ensuring all customers continue to receive the highest level of service and the full range of Kwik Kopy products and services is available.
“We need to make sure they have the right staff in the right premises and rent with the right equipment. We aren’t taking any chances.”
Bell says only six or seven franchises had met a similar fate over the past 10 years and all were now doing well under new owners. The most recent location was Bondi last year which was re-franchised in three months after its sales manager stepped up.
“We were lucky to find someone of such high calibre so quickly,” he says.
Fitzroy and St Kilda Road are likely to take a bit longer than usual, according to Bell, but should be ready to be handed over in 6-12 months.
Bell says the shops will be run exactly to the Kwik Kopy model while under head office control and will be proactively managed in sales, marketing, branding and service levels.
“Some franchisees follow the model to the letter, some only half and others think they can do it better. We will be running this one by the book,” he says.
As the business is being liquidated, all previous staff have been terminated, but Kwik Kopy is talking to many of them about re-joining the company and one has already agreed to stay on.
Bell says the company is in communication with customers of the two shops and they are happy since their needs will continue to be met.
Similarly, he says owners of other Melbourne franchises are comfortable with the situation as Kwik Kopy moved swiftly to prevent any serious damage to the brand.
“They know we know what we are doing,” he says.
All customer enquiries can be made to each centre through the Kwik Kopy website kwikkopy.com.au or by calling John Sexton on 0418 272 117.
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