City firm Drain Doctor Plumbing is taking its expertise to our European partner after boss Freddie Mitman turned a holiday horror into a business opportunity.

Despite the credit crunch and gloom surrounding the economy there are some Peterborough companies bucking the trend. One is Drain Doctor Plumbing.

Launched in the UK in 1993, Drain Doctor has quickly become the country's largest emergency plumbing and drain repair service. It now has more than 100 franchise areas covering the UK and Ireland. It has recently expanded its operation into Europe with the establishment of a new franchise in Portugal.

Drain Doctor's UK success has been built on providing a 24 hours per day, 365 days per year guaranteed service in every part of the country with a fixed price "menu" and no call-out or out-of-hours charges. Now the company is going to introduce the same levels of service in Portugal.

Company chairman Freddie Mitman explained: "We are lucky enough to have a holiday villa in Portugal – but were unlucky enough recently to have a problem with the drains which turned out to be the result of tree roots growing through the pipes.

"We were unable to get a competent plumber in Portugal to deal with the problem and ended up flying out a CCTV drain inspection kit from the UK for a local contractor to use in locating and – eventually – fixing the problem.

"This incident set us thinking and a little research soon showed that our experience was not unique. It was clear that there is a tremendous opportunity for a plumbing business which operates to the standards which Drain Doctor has established in the UK."

Franchising – like high levels of service in the plumbing business – is still little known in Portugal, but Drain Doctor aims to be a pioneer in both these areas. Director general of the British Franchise Association Brian Smart said: "High standards are just as important in the business of franchising as they are in the business of plumbing.

"Drain Doctor Plumbing is a great example of sharing the benefits of success with local franchise owners working with the support and within the quality systems of their franchisor. That same formula makes franchising a powerful way of establishing a successful UK business in Portugal where most of the equity and most of the profit will remain with the Portuguese franchisees."

The company will start operating in the same way it did in the UK in 1993 by setting up a directly-owned operation in the Algarve to prove the concept for the Portuguese market. Four fully-equipped vans will cover Faro, Albufeira, Portimao, Largos and Sagres. Once established, Drain Doctor will start to sell franchises, beginning in the north of the country and working south.

Closer to home, Drain Doctor is enjoying increased success, despite dire warnings about the economy. This is in part due to its commitment to offering its franchisees and their technicians high quality training. It has teamed up with City & Guilds to launch a new accredited training programme making it the only UK plumbing and drainage business offering a nationally recognised qualification.

Freddie Mitman said: "Our customers already enthuse about our service standards. Couple this with accredited training to City & Guilds' own high standards and customers will know they are getting a first-class job carried out by a technician with the right skills for the task."

Vocational awards body City & Guilds is the largest organisation of its kind in the world and has worked with colleges, training providers and businesses for over 125 years.

In addition to offering its technicians City & Guilds accredited Drain Doctor has also received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which aims to improve health and safety practice amongst UK contractors. The company applied for SAFEcontractor accreditation to help secure uniform standards across the business.

SAFEcontractor accreditation is expected to enhance the company's ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company's liability policy is due for renewal. It is operated by international safety, health and environmental risk management specialists, the National Britannia Group.

James Ostler, managing director of information service at National Britannia, said: "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors which are not able to prove they have sound health and safety policies. More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Drain Doctor has done".

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process which examines health and safety procedure and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com

Organisations signing up to the scheme can access the database, which enables them to vet potential contractors. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only contractors which have received accreditation.

Drain Doctor launched the new initiatives to its franchisees at its annual convention in Stratford-upon-Avon. It also took the opportunity to introduce them to new skills to further improve customer service. Drain Doctor unveiled a series of new technical, business and customer service initiatives including offering 'home check-ups' and CCTV surveys as a standard part of the service which it provides. In particular, franchisees from across the UK and Republic of Ireland were introduced to SWAT – "service with attitude training" – presented by Mike Stone and Beth Dobkin from Mr Rooter, Drain Doctor's sister company in the USA. SWAT techniques have helped American franchisees to build better and more profitable businesses.

Mike Stone said: "Customers are not excited about calling a plumber. They have not budgeted for it but are forced to. How the plumber treats them can turn a bad day into a good one."

Beth Dobkin added: "Customers buy what they see – things such as the van, the technician, the mat, the shoe covers and the menu price book. All of these help to build the trust and respect of the customer."

The SWAT philosophy also incorporates the franchise "office culture" that can be used to improve the business.

Franchisees are encouraged to monitor the progress of all the technicians in a way for all to see with a board showing job averages, turnover, product sales made and other features of their individual services. Competitions and incentives can be built around the board to appeal to the competitive nature of the technicians.

Drain Doctor Plumbing's success is down to its unique blend of training initiatives highlighting its commitment to the highest levels of customer service.


Fact file: Portugal

Full country name: Republic of Portugal
Area: 92,391 km² (109th)
Population: 10,566,212 (76th)
Official language: Portuguese
Capital: Lisbon
Largest city: Lisbon
Government: Parliamentary democracy
President: Cavaco Silva
Prime Minister: José Sócrates
Foundation: 868 AD
Independence: 1128, 1143 AD
Religion: 97% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% other (see Religion in Portugal)
GDP (Total, 2005): $203,947 million (41st)
Currency: Euro
Time zone: WET, UTC (EST/UTC+1 in summer)
National anthem: A Portuguesa
Internet domain: .pt
Calling code: +351
Major Industries: Textiles, footwear, wood products, metalworking, oil refining, chemicals, fish canning, wine, tourism, agriculture
Major Trading Partners: EU (esp. Spain, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands & the UK), US
Member of EU?: Yes