Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has today announced that one of its largest franchise territories has come up for sale for the first time in seven years.

The region called ‘Exeter and Dorchester’ extends from Hartland to Minehead in Somerset, through North Devon right through to the East side of Dorset. It is anticipated the area will be divided into two and sold as two separate franchise businesses.

“These franchise sales represent opportunities to acquire established businesses based on Card Connection’s highly regarded franchise model,” confirms Michael Johnson, managing director of Card Connection. “The region has been well managed by the outgoing franchisee and is for sale with the goodwill of an existing retail client base. In addition, Card Connection will provide all the necessary training and advice to the right candidates, in order to support the successful handover of this platinum territory.”

Card Connection franchisees place greeting cards on a consignment basis in retail outlets. Cards and display equipment are supplied on ‘free loan’ to retailers and they only pay for what they sell. The award winning merchandising service has grown in popularity over the years and Card Connection franchisees now distribute greeting cards to around 14,000 outlets through its network of around 70 franchisees.

The Exeter and Dorchester franchisee currently delivers to more than 200 retail outlets with the help of one full-time and one part-time person and will continue to trade until the sale is complete. The whole territory currently covers a mix of rural and urban areas including the towns of Exeter and Dorchester, Bridport, Sidmouth, Axminster, Barnstaple, Exmouth and Tiverton and even merchandises for seven stores on the Butlins Holiday Resort at Minehead.

Card Connection is part of UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of the largest publicly owned greeting card publisher in the world and has limited vacancies for franchisees that are keen to run an expanding business. Suitable candidates would ideally have some management experience as, once established, and depending on the size of the territory, they could be expected to employ a small team, operate a small warehouse and have several liveried vans on the road.

Since the franchise network in the UK is complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development, but start at £7k + Stock + Card Connection fee with earnings potential in excess of £50k per annum.