Gordon Patterson celebrates 25 years with FDS

Gordon Patterson talks to Fraser McKay of The Franchise Magazine about how he obtained the rights to operate FDS Southern 25 years ago and earn a reputation for being one of the UK's leading Franchise Consultants.

"I started life on a farm in Northern Ireland and went to the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to study in the faculty of Agriculture," explains Gordon. "After graduating in 1971, I entered the Department of Agriculture in NI in an advisory capacity to the farming community. Two and a half years later, I was given the opportunity to manage a distribution business in the UK that had franchise rights from a Swiss-based franchisor company."

It was in this capacity that Gordon moved to Newbury, Berkshire and after 12 years of national and international experience in franchising, he decided the time was right to start his own business.

"I attended The Franchise Exhibition at the Barbican in London, where I bought The UK Franchise Directory from the FDS stand," says Gordon.

Impressed

Impressed with the publication, he decided to visit the FDS head office in Norwich in 1985 and meet the company's Managing Director Roy Seaman.

"When I began to appreciate the nature of the FDS business and the services it provided, I became excited about the possibility of contributing to the expansion of franchising in the UK," says Gordon. "I quickly saw FDS as a vehicle that could help me achieve that objective. I suggested to Roy that he franchise his business to me and that I could trade as FDS 'Southern'. This quickly resulted in my acquiring the rights to FDS Southern in September 1985 and joining the training programme on October 1."

Consultancy

Since then Gordon has helped many businesses to structure themselves for franchising and launch on the marketplace. One of the early brands Gordon consulted for was Carewatch, whose Founder Kevin Lewis he still works with to this day by providing consultancy services for Caremark.

About 20 years ago, Gordon consulted for Wiltshire Farm Foods unaware that their Franchise Manager Gary Rigby would subsequently become a key part of FDS Southern when he joined Gordon's business partner in 2005.

As well as his UK franchise consultancy work; Gordon has been an active figure in his Irish homeland and the international marketplace.

"Over the past 25 years, I have consulted for many Irish brands. One of the earliest ones was Eddie Rockets based in Dublin, which is now a highly successful operation in Ireland. More recently, I have been involved in consultancy for 'the streat', which this year won the Irish Franchisor of the Year award."

Enjoyment

Gordon has enjoyed every minute of his quarter centenary at the forefront of franchise consultancy with FDS.

"Providing services under the FDS brand has been a tremendously rewarding experience over these last 25 years," says Gordon. "To work in the structuring of a new franchise, launch it and then stay with our clients in the development of their networks has been extremely satisfying. "It is very exciting to have been and be at, the cutting edge of this development through all sectors of business activity."

If you are based in the south of England, and wish to talk to Gordon, call 0118 974 5115, email franchising@fdssouthern.com or visit www.fdssouthern.com