Another Mailbox Franchise Success Story

Press release date: 11-Sep-2007

Carole and Martin Roberts
MBE Plymouth franchisees

Martin Roberts, former CEO of a worldwide transportation company, now owns MBE Plymouth with his wife Carole.  Previously, they had lived and worked in countries all over the world, from Europe to USA and from Africa to the Middle East.  Martin was European Director for an American business based in the USA when he was offered the CEO job based in the UK.

Martin and Carole decided to make the move, excited about the prospect of being closer to family and friends and in the hope that being based in the UK would mean less business travel for Martin and more time at home.

Back in Surrey, it did not take long for the same relentless pattern to emerge.  Martin describes it as : “Planes, hotels, offices, M25, repeated over and over again.”

“It began to pall and I really felt I didn’t want to do it anymore.   One hotel is like another, so are offices, no matter where you are in the world.  We wanted to escape from the corporate rat race and the frustrations of the M25.  We’d also reached a point when we wanted to control our own destiny a little more,” Martin said.

“We’d had a great time, lived in some lovely places and enjoyed a good lifestyle.  We’d had a lot of fun too. One of the high spots of my job was organising the logistics of dismantling and shipping London Bridge from London to Phoenix, Arizona.  The Americans believed they had purchased Tower Bridge at the time!,” Martin continued.

“We loved the West Country so we packed up and moved down to Plymouth, to be near the sea and Dartmoor.  We weren’t especially wanting to work again but when we decided to send our children to independent schools we realised we needed to boost our income,” Martin explained.

Martin and Carol already knew about Mail Boxes Etc. before they decided to become part of it.  They were advised to use MBE in preference to the US post office when they lived in Washington.  “What a great service was provided to us, so much so that we thought we would like to be part of it down the road,” Carole said.

When the Roberts started thinking about setting up a business, they were initially attracted to MBE and then discovered it was a franchise.  Then they did their research into the franchise concept.  They said: “Having run businesses in the past, it wasn’t difficult for us to understand the value in branding, identity and corporate muscle in ensuring the right cost.  Therefore the licence fee and on-going contribution were acceptable overheads.”

Martin left his job in November 2002 and by the following February he and Carole had bought their MBE centre.  Now in the fifth year of business, the Roberts have divided tasks into two main areas of responsibility.  Martin is a proactive marketeer, exploring new opportunities, meeting local business people and generally promoting the centre’s services and facilities.

When Martin is in the centre he focuses on packing and shipping, while Carole does the book-keeping and admin and serves customers.  They also employ two full-time staff.  

Before buying their centre, Carole’s career included working in banking and general admin and she had been a sales manager for Virgin Vie, responsible for a team of 15 people.  When their children were younger and Martin was away on business, Carole was the main support for the family.  Martin describes her as a “housewife superstar”.

Carole says: “Martin and I do work very well together.  The advantage of being a working mum in your own business is that there is flexibility.  This enables me to take time off for important things, for example special school events like sports days".

“We are growing our business, confident that we are building a saleable asset to sell on for our retirement.  In the meantime, we both enjoy running our centre and developing the variety of customer services we offer".

“And Martin definitely doesn’t miss the M25!”, Carole summed up.