June 11, 2007 - Iain Macleod’s made a snap decision to visit the Scottish Franchise Show last year – and the event has changed his life.

Iain was then a senior manager specialising in business IT and had spent the past eight years living out of a suitcase. The thrill of travel and hotels had long faded.

Returning home from another exhausting trip south, he spotted an advertisement in his home city newspaper, the Glasgow Herald for the exhibition and one of the exhibitors caught his attention.

Iain explains: “Snap-on Tools were exhibiting and I had used the company’s products for many years working in my spare time as part of the technical team supporting my brother’s rally team. Snap-on’s products were first rate and their set-up appealed to me.”

Snap-on Tools are acknowledged as the clear leader in the supply of tools, diagnostic equipment and diagnostic training to the vehicle transport industry – from individual mechanics to large dealerships, fleet companies, plant hire corporations and many others.

In the past month, the company has been awarded the top franchise accolade in the UK by the British Franchise Association – named as Franchisor of the Year in one of the toughest fields of recent times.

Iain continues: “I visited the Snap-on stand at the exhibition, talked to one of their field managers, whose approach impressed me and I quickly made the decision to apply for a franchise.

”Before going there, I’d had the perception that Snap-on was a ‘man and van’ operation but talking to them I realised that the company offered much more and that I could apply my senior management skills in this business.”

Iain discussed the opportunity with his partner, Helen, and then went through an exhaustive selection and interview process both at Snap-on’s Hamilton office and at home.

“The company’s ultimate concern for my welfare was extremely apparent. They were at pains to establish whether my family was fully supportive of my decision and that we understood the financial implications of such a life-changing decision,” Iain says.

Iain’s confidence in the company was strengthened by the visits he made to franchisees and customer visits he made with them.

“I was convinced after the first customer visit with a Snap-on franchisee that this was the right move. Speaking to the customers, you got a clear impression that they enjoyed the weekly visits, had an excellent rapport with the ‘Snap-on man’, and were receptive to suggestions on future purchases.” Iain says.

His performance also impressed the Snap-on management, as Alastair Baxter, field manager (West Group) explains: “The information we had suggested that his personality, management experience and customer facing skills made him a very strong candidate.

“As part of our recruitment process there followed a number of interviews and time spent with existing franchisees over the next few weeks, this process allowed us to better evaluate him in a number of different environments as well as giving him the opportunity to assess the whole franchise in greater detail.

“The result of this process was that we were delighted to offer Iain a franchise in October of last year.”

Iain then applied for voluntary redundancy from BT and was able to join the Snap-on team on February 1st – taking over a territory recently vacated and also in need of a franchisee with strong sense of direction and purpose.

Iain, who turns fifty this month, has quickly made his mark as Alastair Baxter explains: “In the last few months Iain has made great strides in establishing himself in the territory and is already producing excellent figures.”

This is even more impressive bearing in mind that the patch he took over had been under-performing and had undergone a series of personnel changes.

Iain says: “I’ve been really happy with my first few months and the tasks has been made much easier by the informal support I’ve had from established franchisees and my field manager who have been top notch along with the first-class professional support from the distribution centre, care centre and diagnostic team. The set-up is easily on par with what I experienced at BT.

“Snap-on’s commitment to quality and customer support helps its franchisees build trusting relationships with full confidence. The company’s launch of the Bluepoint Mid-Tier Range, for example, and the new diagnostic training and equipment are clear winners.”

Iain’s life-changing decision at the Scottish Franchise Exhibition is also clearly a winning choice. He now can combine his passion for cars with his technical knowledge and customer-facing skills – and finally use that suitcase for pleasure again.

He has just returned from the Monaco Grand Prix where he watched the Honda F1 team, also sponsored by Snap-on Tools, do battle with their racing peers on the finest circuit in the world. And no doubt many of the finest tools being used by the F1 mechanics were Snap-on.

View Company Website: http://www.snapon.com