Supporting success: Minster cleaning services is one of the UK's most successful franchise networks providing an essential service to businesses of all types.(Focus)

Buying an established franchise has many advantages compared with starting from scratch. An existing business has cash flow, customers, staff and, whether you buy a going concern or a new start-up, a franchise offers a tried and tested model where failure rates are significantly lower than for independent businesses. Approximately 30 per cent of all UK franchise sales are resales and, according to the bfa/NatWest Survey; seven out of 10 people joining the UK franchise sector did so through the purchase of an existing business over the last two years.

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John Bate recognised the benefits of choosing a resale when he recently took over the …