Franchise model builds on Christmas tree farm's success

Evergreen Christmas Trees was established in 1995 by Mr Reynolds.

He originally set up as an individual seller but, after struggling to find buyers, he moved into wholesale, mainly selling to farm shops and garden centres.

Music

It was a dramatic career change for Mr Reynolds, a former music teacher, although he had grown up on his family’s farm.

The farm raised suckler cows, but being in an area hit hard by bovine TB, the family looked into ways of diversifying the business.

“I think I naively thought it was something you only had to do one month a year, but it is a year-round job.”

All the family were needed during the busiest period of the year, with unsociable hours during the Christmas period off-putting to some seasonal staff.

It was also a long-term commitment with a 10-year growing cycle for trees limiting the speed of expansion.

He said: “You have to predict the market. There is a lot of investment involved.”

This is where the franchise model came in. Evergreen select a farm in the right location and cover the complete sales area including marketing. The franchise works solely on commission, meaning there is no risk to the farm. It has also created a community sharing ideas and best practice between franchises.