Lime Orchard has a zest for business success

Lime Orchard has a zest for business success

The brains behind Britain’s first domestic garden design and construction franchise has bounced back onto the franchising scene with a brand new business, Lime Orchard, which is set to take the world of garden design and build by storm.

Judy Behl - founder of Scenic Blue, the UK’s first landscaping franchise which was acquired by Marshalls plc in December 2006 - is launching a new garden design and construction service designed to appeal to homeowners looking for a national brand capable of delivering a reliable, high quality solution for their garden project.

Judy served on the national board of the British Franchise Association (BFA) for two years, having previously served as a regional chair for the association. She was also a regional delegate for the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI).

Lime Orchard will launch in April 2009 with the memorable strap line “Refresh your Garden”.  The new company will be actively seeking out experienced garden designers and landscape architects, to join Lime Orchard’s national team of specialists, as well as established landscape construction businesses interested in working with the company to build high quality, predominantly domestic projects.  Lime Orchard is also keen to establish a rapport with reputable garden centres looking to extend their portfolio of services by offering a complete design and build offering to their customers.

Lime Orchard will be developed nationally via a network of franchisees, all of whom will have direct access to the company’s business, financial, technical and marketing resources.  Each franchisee will develop the profile of the Lime Orchard brand in a specific post-coded territory.  Ideal franchisees are likely to possess significant sales skills and direct experience of the landscape or construction industries.

The credit crunch could potentially signal an unprecedented interest in franchise businesses, as large-scale redundancies triggers a pool of talented people looking to invest their redundancy funds in a suitable business opportunity.  And with construction professionals topping the list of workers joining the UK dole queues, Lime Orchard will be targeting these individuals and others, in the same position, from the landscape industry. In terms of attracting the attention of the general public to drive sales, the Lime Orchard proposition taps into the current consumer trend to “improve not move” – according to RatePeople.com’s research last year a massive 2.7 million homeowners decided to stay put and spend the money that they had saved on improving their homes instead.

Commenting on the launch, Judy Behl said, “We have undertaken extensive research and business planning to test the viability of this franchise concept, especially in the current economic climate. 
We will be actively looking for franchisees who are able to demonstrate proven sales and project management skills and who possess excellent communication skills.  Lime Orchard franchisees will need to relate to the aspirations of our customers, and must demonstrate a clear understanding of the growing importance of a well designed outdoor room to our target audience.  These skills combined with the innovation and creative flair of a national design team together with the practical construction expertise of a local team of experienced landscapers, will result in a compelling, high quality, cost-effective proposition to consumers – and ultimately a rewarding, easily accessible and of course profitable business opportunity for franchise prospects.”

The Lime Orchard launch will be supported by a number of marketing initiatives including the development of a dedicated web site, direct marketing, trade and consumer exhibition support and a comprehensive trade and consumer PR campaign.