Ask the expert....

Andy Emmerson brought with him a wealth of food industry and franchising experience, from Dunkin Donuts in the US and Upper Crust and Millie’s Cookies in the UK, when he joined Domino’s Pizza at the end of 2006. Here, he discusses his plans to open 50 new stores a year in the UK and Ireland through an impressive franchise strategy and compares his career so far to playing in the football premiership.

A significant portion of your career has been spent in the US. Do you think a stint over there is essential to be a real success in franchising?

Whether it is absolutely necessary, I don’t know, but it’s definitely
an advantage. There is nothing like working in the home of franchising and I learned everything I know over there. The US is
a challenging retail market and I really appreciate the experience
I’ve gained there – it’s definitely helped guide my management
approach back here in the UK.

I was at Dunkin’ Donuts for six years, it’s like playing in the
premiership for football because it’s on such a large scale. I was
the senior market executive for the franchise’s largest region, New
England, and developing new stores and growing sales in existing
areas at the same time was tough in a region of that size.

You are hoping to secure 50 new stores a year for Domino’s in the UK and Ireland.What’s the secret to managing a programme of that scale?

The trick is to have a big enough pipeline.We have got a target of
one a week, a similar rate to that at Dunkin’ Donuts. Every week I will open one store, but I will have three more that I am trying to pursue. For example, I will be looking to open 150 in a year, 50 of those will open, 100 won’t – that’s just the way it works. Just to get those 50, you have to be dealing with between 150 and 200 a year.

It is also about having the confidence in your brand and knowing that it is absolutely first class. If anyone is going to invest in a brand, it has to be a knock out product and I am very, very proud of the product that we have.

You are familiar with leading large teams within big companies like Dunkin’ Donuts and now Domino’s. Is it difficult to maintain relationships with each franchisee?

There is evidence of quite a few companies in the US becoming
so big that the day-to-day relationship is no longer there.We don’t want to risk that at Domino’s so we won’t go beyond 200 franchisees. That is a manageable number and you are able to retain that personal relationship.

Being able to bring together multiple departments within one
company to deliver a successful strategy is a key skill for any
business development specialist and I think that will be vital in
maximising growth potential at Domino’s.

I’ve always taken a hands-on approach. If you’re going to lead
from the front you need to take the time to get know the franchisees.
In my experience, doing that in the early stages of a job helps to
build trust and openness, two key factors in developing profitable
multiple store operations.We work in partnership with our
franchisees and personal contact is a vital ingredient.

When a company is growing at the rate of Domino’s, you can’t afford to lose touch with those working on the ground. If you’re connected at every level, rapid business growth is made much easier.

You’ve been in the business for 20 years now. Are you still passionate about what you do?

I have a little bit of an obsession about it now actually. I went to
Stoke recently and I drove home via the A-roads, so that I could
assess certain sites for accessibility, visibility etc. But I have
franchisees on the phone to me about these sites and they are
obsessive too, like lots of people who work for themselves. I
believe that with 1000 sites and 200 franchises, every one of the
franchisees will be a millionaire. My job now is to create those
millionaires.

There must be aspects of your job that get you down. What would you change about the current market to make your job easier?

The problems come in the form of day-to-day dilemmas, of
operating a property portfolio and trying to marry that up with a
franchising portfolio. There are enough properties out there for us
to reach the 50 a year, but there has been a change in the way that planning rules have been interpreted in the UK.

Hot food outlets have different planning requirements attached
to them, for example, some food retailers can join A1, because
they are classed as retail, but A5 planning permission is needed
for us because of the way it is interpreted.

The guidelines are reasonably straightforward but different
towns have different ways of interpreting them. That makes things difficult sometimes, but that’s just the way of the business. It’s sometimes costly and sometimes frustrating because there is no
valid reason for some decisions, but that’s life, we just have to take it on the chin and move on.

How do you make sure you secure the right sites?

I carry out a strict site review, looking at the potential
opportunities and potential problems. ‘Out the door’ is the time we measure from the moment we receive the order to when it leaves the store. If the location sacrifices that short time, then it won’t work. We will also look at the neighbouring businesses, are they complimentary? An off licence and video rental store are both good neighbours to our business.

Parking is another key factor. Can customers get in, can we park delivery vehicles, and is there space for staff vehicles?
We will also assess the visibility of the site, even though we are
a delivery business, we need to make sure our customers can see us.