Grass Greener on our Side of the World

Grass Greener on our Side of the World

Auckland 31 October 2005: Homecare franchise group Green Acres has returned from a job Expo in the UK estimating it could sign up to 10 new franchises in the next 12 months to Brits who migrate to NZ.

One of the 120 exhibitors, who over the last two weekends in London and Manchester has been courting skilled British and expatriate workers at the Opportunities New Zealand Expo, Green Acres experience exceeded their expectations.

Green Acres Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chisholm says as a first-time exhibitor they were testing the waters by targeting Green Acres and Hire a Hubby franchises at the partners of skilled migrants such as nurses and teachers.

“We were surprised by the number of immediate responses and have already got one Memorandum of Understanding in place, but this could easily be more in the next few months. We had extensive conversations with people who are very motivated to move to New Zealand,” says Chisholm.

He says their company culture fitted perfectly with the Expo research that showed the main reason for migration was lifestyle.

“99 percent of the people we spoke to are moving to New Zealand for lifestyle and we offer a business lifestyle opportunity. The conversion rate works in their favour and people are excited to realise they can sell their UK residence, become mortgage-free over here and have extra cash to buy a franchise,” says Chisholm.

Hayley Roberts, a director of Opportunities New Zealand Expo, says Green Acres success has meant a new sales channel has opened for the company.

“Over the years we have fine tuned our marketing, so we attract high quality candidates to our Expos to help us fill the New Zealand employment gaps in key areas such as healthcare, accountancy and engineering. However, Green Acres has shown the huge opportunity available for New Zealand franchise operators offering lifestyle businesses,” says Roberts.

More than 10,000 people attended both the London and Manchester Expos this month.

Based on last year’s figures nearly 65 percent of the visitors had a Bachelors degree, 13 percent were trade trained and only 2 percent had a minimum qualification from secondary school. Most were aged between 36 and 40 years of age and majority expected to arrive in New Zealand six months to a year after the Opportunities New Zealand Expo.

Opportunities New Zealand Expo has increased five fold in the last five years with 120 exhibitors showing in the UK this year. An additional London Expo is scheduled for March next year to meet demand.

Green Acres is New Zealand’s leading service company with Hire a Hubby and Mobile Mums as part of its stable of franchise opportunities.

ENDS

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