Domino’s overhauls franchising to handle surging demand

Domino’s has restructured its franchise department to handle increased demand from wannabe franchisees.

Pat McMichael has been promoted to chief development and franchising officer. He will oversee the recruitment of franchisees to fill existing store opportunities, as well as creating new store development projects.

Prior to his promotion, McMichael was franchise development manager for Australia and New Zealand.

McMichael says that Domino’s is currently experiencing a surge in prospective franchisee enquiries following the company’s strong results for the last 12 months. The company posted a 16% increase in net profit to $17.8 million in 2009-10, with same-store sales up 2.8%. Domino’s is looking to open 23 new franchises within the financial year.

“We have seen a huge increase in new franchisee enquiries through our website and also our dedicated information sessions which are held across Australia regularly. The most encouraging part is the majority of these enquiries turn into serious applications,” he says.

“We are seeing a lot of people choose Domino’s over other franchise options due to our strong brand position, solid financial results and the success of other franchisees in our network – people want to franchise with a reputable brand with proven success.

“We have welcomed more than 22 new franchisees to the Domino’s business over the past six months and we expect to see a lot more before Christmas.”

McMichael adds that although Domino’s has new opportunities for franchisees across Australia and New Zealand, it was focussing on Melbourne as an area of growth.

“Last year we highlighted the Melbourne market as a key area of growth for us,” he says. “We now have more than 16 offers on sites in suburbs which have huge potential. In addition to this, we have sold six stores to new franchisees and are still on the lookout for franchisees to fill the remaining locations.”

Domino’s has 522 stores across Australia, employing 14,500 part-time and full-time stores and making more than 50 million pizzas a year.