ChipsAway

The initial ChipsAway franchise costs £29,995 plus VAT, covering training, initial equipment and the franchise fee. ChipsAway states that, through its pricing options, you need from £20,000 plus VAT of your own funds to start. It does not publish its ongoing management fee.

All the repair equipment, around three months of start-up stock, a CRM system and computer, an all-weather marquee, uniform and stationery, a four-week training course, an exclusive territory, a launch marketing package and leads from national advertising, according to ChipsAway.

ChipsAway does not publish an average. It states that its model offers the opportunity to turn over £80,000 or more a year, based on existing franchisees. It also says the average franchisee received leads worth over £150,000 in 2023, a figure based on head-office enquiries multiplied by its average repair value rather than on revenue. At the top of the network, the owner of its largest Car Care Centre turns over around £1 million a year.

No. ChipsAway provides full training and states that more than 90% of its network had no previous experience of the industry, and that most franchisees had never been self-employed.

A four-week initial course at its IMI-accredited facility, covering technical repairs, alloy wheels and Supagard, sales and marketing, and its CRM system. This is followed by an extra week of paint and dent training and advanced training during the first six months

Yes, in part. ChipsAway runs national TV and online advertising that generates enquiries for the network, and also trains franchisees to build their own local customer base.

ChipsAway states that it still has many territories available nationwide, despite being the largest SMART repair network in the UK. Each franchisee receives an exclusive, profiled territory.

ChipsAway started in the USA and was launched in the UK in 1994. It has been owned since 2008 by Franchise Brands, which also owns Metro Rod, Ovenclean and Barking Mad.