Apollo Blinds has launched the first of its new generation Apollo at home franchises in the heart of the West Midlands

The Mander Centre shopping complex in Wolverhampton was the location for the launch of the new mobile franchise model and the company teamed up with a local radio station for a four-hour live broadcast to mark the start of trading in the city.

Listeners to 107.7FM The Wolf were encouraged to join presenter Dicky Dodd, the Wolf promotion team and the Apollo Blinds team by the Apollo van which was parked in the middle of the shopping centre.

Visitors took part in a competition, received giveaways including balloons which proved to be a massive hit and got a flavour of the breadth of Apollo Blinds' massive collection of window blinds, awnings and shutters.

The company’s appearance in the shopping centre sparked interest from nearly 200 potential new customers and general manager Gary Chambers said he was delighted with the launch – especially as it was a new format for a new business model.
“Apollo Blinds is a well-established retail franchise model and has proved to be a very successful opportunity for people to build a business using our brand,” he said.
“The launch strategy for our retail franchise is centred on driving footfall into stores, but as an Apollo at home franchise model doesn’t involve a showroom we had to find another launch event format.

“With Wolverhampton we were able to team up with the radio station and the main shopping centre to create an event which was beneficial for all of us.

“The Wolf was able to make great radio by supporting a new business, there was a real buzz of excitement for shoppers in the Mander Centre and of course we were able to book consultation appointments to go out and start seeing our first customers.
“I was delighted with the launch of our new Apollo at home franchise in Wolverhampton because it demonstrates there is still huge demand for window blinds but it also goes to show you just have to work a bit harder and a bit smarter.”

The launch of Apollo at home represents a watershed for the company which only launched the new franchise model at the back end of last year.

By offering a new low-cost entry model, Apollo Blinds has broadened its appeal to a new audience of people who are interested in operating a window blinds franchise but prefer to start with an ‘earn as you learn’ business rather than going for a retail business which has larger overheads.

And in another first for the company, the Apollo at home franchise in Wolverhampton is being set up and run by the company’s recently appointed training manager, Matt O’Sullivan.

He has plenty of experience training salespeople in the window blinds and awnings industry and joined in January with a specific remit to get the Wolverhampton business off the ground, before the company sells the franchise on and O’Sullivan takes up his training role proper.

“It’s a radical and exciting proposition to start my career with Apollo Blinds as if I were a new franchisee owner,” he said.
“But it makes perfect sense because as a trainer I need to know what it’s like to start up a business. With each new Apollo at home franchise owner who comes on board I’ll already have had the ‘been there and done it’ T-shirt so I’ll give them a much more realistic understanding of what it takes to start up a successful business and give them as many short cuts to success as possible.

“Personally speaking, I’ve found the marketing fascinating because I’ve had significant input with local knowledge of how and where to make the most of all the advertising support which is coordinated by head office.

“It’s also a useful exercise to prove that all the figures that Apollo Blinds quotes to prospective franchisees about sales, margins and return on investment are easily achievable if they follow the franchise methodology laid out by Apollo Blinds.”

• Apollo Blinds