Read part one and part two7 Care homes“If you need care, you need care,” says Trevor Brocklebank, co-founder of business franchise Home Instead Senior Care. The £18m-turnover company is currently growing at 20 per cent month-on-month, in the face of the downturn. This sector has also had a boost from a regulatory change in the social services system: people needing care can take the money rather than the services that money would have bought and spend it on private care homes like Brocklebanks’.

8 FranchisesHome Instead Senior Care CEO Brocklebank has another clever trick up his sleeve. He is currently inducting nine new franchisees into the firm, and forecasts a turnover upwards of £30m in 2009, almost double that of 2008. But franchises across the board are experiencing an upturn. From big firms like Domino’s (sales at the pizza delivery firm have increased ten per cent), to £22m-turnover cleaning firm Time For You (the firm has seen a 300 per cent increase in enquiries over the past three months), franchising is a reduced risk model, perfect for times of economic instability. “About 400,000 people are employed through 34,000 franchise businesses in the UK,” says Tom Endean, spokesman for the British Franchising Association. “We expect this number to increase as people turn to franchising as a viable option in the economic climate.”

9 Local businessesGary Cleaver founded Warmsley Services in 2003. The Leicester-based building contractor has grown to a £4.7m-turnover firm by focusing solely on local contracts. “I worked for a national company for 25 years,” says Cleaver. “Sometimes the ball gets too big to kick. If you break things down to a local level, you have more control.”

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