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A f r A n c h i s e O p p O r t u n i t y
We’rejump(er)ingfor you!
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Hello, we’re Clothes Aid and we’re delighted that you want to find
out more about our organisation and how our franchise
operates. Within the next few pages you will understand why
we’re the UK’s leading Clothes collection company to start to
decide if this could be part of your future.
We’re looking for individuals to join us who share our commitment to
providing a high quality professional service to the charity partners that we
work with and to the householders who donate their clothing to support
their work.
You don’t need previous experience in the Charity Bag collection sector to become a
franchisee with Clothes Aid (but if you’ve got it great). We have a comprehensive induction
training programme and a very robust model to follow. You do need to be fit and healthy and
happy to work outdoors. You will need a van for the business and we can help you to
arrange that through one of our preferred suppliers.
As a franchisee with Clothes Aid you can either be a single van franchisee (where you carry
out the bag distribution and collection work with a small team) or you can build the business
into a multi-van franchise (operating out of an industrial unit) where you eventually take on
the role of the business manager. Both options have significant financial potential in relation
to the income and profit that the business can generate and the money that we raise to
support our charity partners.
We really want you to understand our business so can we also suggest you visit our website
at www.ClothesAid.co.uk for further information once you have read this brochure. If you’d
like to progress your interest in a franchise there is a short questionnaire online or you can
complete the PDF version of the questionnaire sent to you with this brochure and we’ll get
back to you to progress.
Best regards
Laurie Hollande
Founder oF CLotHes Aid
A great business withhuge social benefits
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At Clothes Aid we help to do good things for great UK charities and our
planet. We work with some of the UKs leading charities who can trust us
to recycle their donors preloved frocks, tops, sports kits, and tutus into
charitable funds. Raising funds for charity and recycling is at the heart of
what we do. Last year the great British public helped us raise over £1.5
million. That’s a lot of charity bags to collect!!
Clothes Aid is the UK’s leading collector of used clothing. Since 1996 we have
raised over £10 million for our charity partners. As the doorstep collection
market has grown and developed we have expanded our operations. Clothes
Aid now has contracts with many national and regional charities who rely
upon us for the support that we give to their great work.
We are the largest contributor of funds for some of our charities and we offer
charity partners either national or regional coverage, depending upon their r
area of operations. Details of the scope of our operations on behalf of the
individual charities that we work with currently can be accessed via our
website www.clothesaid.co.uk
As fashion has become more and more disposable, households in the UK
now generate so much surplus clothing that it’s impossible for charities to
take it all into their local shops and so they work with Clothes Aid to raise
funds for them.
“WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) estimate that between 1.1 and
1.4 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away each year in the UK. Of this,
about 430,000 tonnes are good quality clothing items that could be re-used.
That’s why we believe there is room for both charity shops and clothing
collections. Both raise money for charities whilst helping to reduce our
environmental impact at the same time. Clothes Aid collects many 1,000s of
tonnes of clothing a year and converts this into cash for UK charities.”
Alan Wheeler
textiLe reCyCLing AssoCiAtion
We are
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Our franchise offers the opportunity to build
your own business backed up with the help
and support of an experienced and substantial
organisation. Not only can your business
produce good income and profits, but you will
be part of a unique network that has huge
social benefits.
Our model is very simply - our franchisees run a
team or teams carrying out the distribution and
collection of charity bags to targeted areas and
households within their franchise area. Each team
needs a van with the capacity to carry at least one
tonne of clothing (high top, long wheelbase
‘Transit’ type panel van).
Initially we deliver to every house within the area
on a 3-4 week cycle but as we become more
aware of who the regular donors are for each
charity we can then become more selective about
the bag distribution whilst still maintaining the
response for donations. This system of data
management enables our franchisees to reduce
their distribution costs and improve profitability on
an ongoing basis.
We are expanding the number of collection teams
that we work with and we can only appoint a
limited number of franchisees in any area so the
opportunities to work with us aren’t open ended.
Once you’ve read the information in this brochure
if you think that you can do what we do then
please complete the short questionnaire that’s
attached and return it to us and we’ll contact you
for an initial informal discussion.
• Comprehensive start-up package including corporate clothing and initial supply of charity bags
• Full use of the Clothes Aid and relevant charity partners branded charity bag collection materials
in your franchise area
• Advice and support on pre-trading requirements - sourcing a vehicle, recruiting and training
teams, arranging licenses etc.
• A comprehensive induction training programme for you and your team
• Initial ‘on-site’ support during the early stages by operational manager
• Regular on-site visits to provide ongoing help and business advice
• Central purchasing for specified items (bags and corporate clothing)
• License applications on behalf of franchisee to enable you to trade legally and meet currently
regulatory standards
• Regular meetings with other franchisees
• Central warehouses to store the collected clothing
• Weekly secure payment for clothing collected
our Franchise opportunity
Franchise support Clothes Aid has developed a unique operational model
around the collection of donated used clothing.
We have been franchising for over twenty years and still
have some franchisees that joined us twenty years ago that
are working with us today. As an experienced franchisor, we
support our franchisees with:
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Very simply, our franchisees arrange the
distribution of charity bags and the subsequent
collection of clothing donated from households
in their area. The clothing is bought by weight
from our franchisees and sold to third parties,
to generate an income with a proportion of the
funds raised going to the nominated charities.
Each collection needs either a
household collection license for
the individual charity or a
national exemption certificate.
This is part of our role; every
year we obtain hundreds of licenses
from local authorities across the UK on behalf of
our franchisees.
Distribution is the key to our business. If the bags
don’t go out the collections don’t come in. Each
franchisee has one or more distribution teams to
cover their local area intensively. A small team of
three people can distribute twelve to fifteen
thousand charity bags per week. From this they
expect to pick up around three tonnes of clothing.
Some franchisees have more than one team but
it’s important that you start with one and get to
know the business before potentially expanding
into a multi van operation.
Franchisees must be very well organised and have
a reliable workforce. We put a great deal of time
and effort into identifying the best ways to recruit
and retain reliable distribution teams and
supporting our franchisees in this process.
Franchisees can have one or more teams and each
team will consist of 2, 3 or 4 people depending
upon the area that they are going to cover.
All Clothes Aid team members are required to wear
identification badges and wear our smart
corporate uniform featuring the Clothes Aid logo.
It’s part of our operational model and a
requirement of our charity contracts so that donors
know who we are and that their clothing is helping
to support the charities that we represent.
Two to three days after the bags have been
distributed, the van returns to the same area and
collects bags of donated clothing from the
households. The franchisee takes the bags to a
storage unit which is located within the franchise
area. Sometimes two collections the same van
makes a day. When a container load of clothing
bags has been collected, we arrange transport to
pick it up directly from the unit. Payment for the
clothing collected is made directly into the
franchisee’s bank account within five working
days. Most franchisees are producing sufficient
tonnage to require a weekly collection. As a new
franchisee, you can be generating income from
week two or three when you start your business so
the cashflow is good.
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A week in the life of aClothes Aid Franchisee
MONDAY
MONDAYMONDAY
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We hold memberships with the following industry
bodies:
• Institute of Fundraising (IoF)
• Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB)
• London Community Recycling Network
• London Textile Forum
• Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP)
Steering Group
• Signatory to SCAP 2020 Commitment
• Textile Recycling Association
We keep good company by working side by side with
some of the UK’s leading authorities in fundraising
and textile recycling. We spend deserved time
lobbying for better standards in the collection
industry because we feel it is integral part of our
protecting our partnerships with charities and the
public. As a result, we were invited to sit on the IoF
Code of Fundraising Practice working group.
“The Institute of Fundraising is delighted to work with
charities and fundraising organisations, like Clothes
Aid, and recognises the value all legitimate forms of
fundraising brings to fundraisers in generating
income. Fundraisers are the experts in working with
donors and their experiences clearly show that
different methods of giving preferred by different
people and that different forms of fundraising work
for different organisations.”
Ceri edwards
direCtor oF PoLiCy And CoMMuniCAtions
institute oF FundrAising
our industryComrades
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What are we looking for from you?To build a successful Clothes Aid Franchise, you must be willing and able to work hard and get actively
involved in the business. Once established, you can employ team leaders to run the distribution and
collection teams but in the beginning there is no substitute for leading from the front.
You’ll need to learn the ropes as far as distributing and collecting bags is concerned, so you’ll also need to be
reasonably fit. You will also need to be able to be very organised, or have an organised
partner who can be involved actively in the business. Our business
system uses simple software packages so you (or your
partner) will need to have reasonable IT skills.
To maximise your tonnage returns you must operate the
business according to our model. We don’t want
mavericks or people who don’t like systems. We’ve made
the mistakes and can train and support you so that you
don’t make them all again.
We’re only interested in taking on franchisees who are entirely
committed to building a successful business and with whom
we can work closely to make this happen.
training All new franchisees attend one-week’s
induction training at our national
training facility in Blackburn,
Lancashire. This consists of class
room and field based training with an
assessment at the end. Each new
franchisee will also receive a high
level of ongoing operational training
and support over the first 6 months of
joining Clothes Aid.
Please note that all franchisees are
selected carefully and must also vet
any staff that work for them as part of
their team. We are the donor face of
the charities that we work with and we
must support them and reflect their
values at all times.
FranchiseAreasOur experience shows that a viable franchise
area contains around 50-60,00 households. A
franchisee will work this area over a one-month
period, visiting the same house three times
within the same month using a different charity
bag from our portfolio of well-known British
charities each time to avoid donor fatigue. Areas
can be covered up to 12 times per year for each
charity, depending upon location, tonnage,
quality of the clothing and the availability of the
local licenses. Once established in an area,
franchisees find that householders will wait for
their Clothes Aid charity bags to arrive so that
they can support the partner charities.
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Financial Model
Like all businesses, our franchises vary in their income and profit levels.
Different franchisees produce different tonnages and have different overhead
structures and personal income requirements. During the recruitment
process, we will share our financial model with you (subject to you signing a
confidentiality undertaking) to ensure that you understand the financial
potential of the business. However, these figures will give you an indication
of projected earnings:
yeAr 1 Turnover - Approx £95K
Pre-tax net trading profit - £34K
(Approx. £700 per week based on a 48-week operating year)
yeAr 2 Turnover - Approx - £99K
Pre-tax net trading profit - £45K
(Approx. £950 per week based on a 48-week operating year)
yeAr 3Turnover - Approx £111K
Pre-tax net trading profit - £56K
(Approx. £1150 per week based on a 48-week operating year)
The Clothes Aid franchise offers entrepreneurial-minded
individuals the opportunity to achieve a high level of personal
income leading to financial security and independence whilst
helping to support some of the leading charities in the UK.
initial start-up Costs The initial start-up costs and working capital requirement for the business is around
£11,200 + VAT. This value includes the cost of a second-hand van at £5,000 - if you’ve got
a suitable van that can be used that’s fine and your start-up costs will be around £6200 +
VAT. All franchisees must be registered for VAT so this can be claimed back.
The costs of signwriting the van, uniforms for a 3-person distribution, team, induction
training and initial supply of bags are included in the franchise fee.
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If you would like to find out more,
please complete and return the
attached questionnaire and return it to
Once we’ve received your
questionnaire we’ll contact you for an
initial telephone discussion about the
business and then if both of us want
to proceed we’ll arrange a meeting at a
location convenient to both of us.
We want you to fully understand
what’s involved in the business before
you make any decisions so we’ll give
you all the information that you need
to decide if this is the right business
for you. We’ll discuss your aims and
objectives and your personal and
financial circumstances.
Thank you for your interest in the
Clothes Aid franchise and we look
forward to hearing from you again.
What’snext?
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