For months the former managing director of a major fresh produce supplier indulged himself in his favourite pastime – horse riding – while he considered his future career options.

He said: "I knew that whatever I did I wanted to be in control.

"I didn't want to be in a position where I had just one major customer who could pick up the phone and give me a sleepless night."

Mr Lucking (49) was the managing director of a vegetable growing producer supplying a major supermarket chain. But it was an industry that was always under intense pressure from the major retailers, and where the number of companies involved was shrinking as smaller ones were bought up by larger firms.

He said: "I wanted something that needed people and personality, and in an industry that was growing not shrinking.

"I wanted to be involved in a company that was fighting to develop not to just survive."

So, after a visit to a franchise exhibition, Mr Lucking spent some time researching a number of alternatives.

He said: "I could see the lettings industry was growing. I had an interview with the franchisor, or rather I interviewed the franchisor, as I wanted to make sure that he would allow me to develop my ideas."

And in June 1999, Mr Lucking bought a franchise of the lettings specialist, Belvoir and set up in Lincoln Road, Peterborough.

He now has a staff of 16 and a portfolio of some 600 properties, of which about two per cent are owned by Belvoir. For the rest Belvoir acts as the agent, letting the property and managing the relationship with the tenant on behalf of the home owner.

Mr Lucking is also planning a rapid growth of his business with the goal of opening new offices. By the middle of next year he hopes to have offices in Corby and Nottingham, at which point Peterborough will become the head office for the growing empire.

He said: "After that, I aim to open two more offices every year – I want to create a super-franchise."

It is his ambition and determination to succeed that secured Mr Lucking the Gold Winner award in the 2007 British Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year Awards.

After the award presentation, head of franchising for the HSBC Bank Cathryn Hayes said: "Judging these awards is always a difficult task, but we felt that Terry showed determination and commitment to building a successful business.

"This is a franchisee which truly understands that without the customer, there is no business. It's a strategy that has seen a whole raft of innovation and inspired initiatives flow into the business. Indeed, so successful have these been that many of Terry's ground- breaking ideas have, quite rightly, been adopted through the Belvoir network."

And Mr Lucking is confident there is plenty of room to grow the business.

He said the flexible nature of modern life would be the driving force for the rented property sector.

He said: "People are driven by the need for instant gratification.