JOB DETAILS
Job reference
REQ01284
Date posted
19/02/2026
Application closing date
05/03/2026
Location
Woking
Salary
£45,000 – £50,000 p/a
Package
Contractual hours
37.5
Basis
Full time
Job category/type
Education
Job description
ABOUT TRAFALGAR ENTERTAINMENT (TE)
Co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire in 2017, Trafalgar Entertainment is a premium international live entertainment business focussed on new productions, venue ownership, Performing Arts education, theatre ticketing, the distribution of live-streaming innovative content and the provision of great theatres where people can come together to share in the experience of live entertainment. TE is home to Trafalgar Theatres, The Chiswick Cinema, Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Trafalgar Releasing, Trafalgar Tickets, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Drama Kids/Helen O'Grady Drama Academy, ticketing company London Theatre Direct, Stagedoor, Jonathan Church Theatre Productions, and Imagine Theatre.
We are passionate about entertainment, audiences, and the live experience and we value Creativity, Collaboration, Excellence and Respect.
ABOUT THIS ROLE
As an experienced franchise business leader and a member of the Franchise Business Development team, you will take clear accountability and responsibility for the commercial performance, operational health, and strategic progression of the franchisees under your management.
You will not only assist our franchisees through the onboarding process and initial training but will play a central role in ongoing front-line coaching and mentoring throughout their growth journey, with a clear focus on building capability and independence. Helping them acquire the necessary business development skills to operate independently and successfully within the franchise system.
You will be responsible for conducting structured business analysis, developing data led recommendations to drive growth and boost revenue, and recognising the challenges that franchisees face and supporting them to resolve issues within their local operations to achieve sustainable, long-term growth.
You will proactively consult with franchisees to help determine strengths and weaknesses, using this insight to analyse their business and help formulate short, medium, and long term strategies for the purpose of business growth and development, improving and sustaining high performance. These strategies should be formulated using sound financial and commercial judgement, which should include but not be limited to budgeting and cash flow forecasting, tax awareness, and succession or exit planning. You will ensure ongoing compliance with the franchise system, driving quality assurance and growth optimisation, and supporting these businesses through all phases of the growth cycle in line with agreed annual growth plans.
All support, coaching, and guidance should also consider both business and personal objectives, ensuring alignment with the franchisee's success and wellbeing and the welfare of their team, while creating a strong, sustainable business asset, ultimately supporting long term ownership, resale, or legacy transfer.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Franchisee Business Support
* Maximise franchise owner business performance through the management and delivery of Objectives and Key Results (OKR) by creating strategic plans that ensure business growth.
* Analyse and interpret franchisee financial and business information, providing support and advice to deliver business growth.
* Proactively work with franchisees to maximise sales, school and student growth and franchisee profitability.
* Ensure that franchisees can comprehend and implement new strategies and have the tactical steps and abilities to execute them effectively.
* Work with each of the franchisees to help them identify what is important for their customers (parents and students) and how they can and should attract those customers.
* Track OKR metrics to promote accountability and set clear expectations for franchisees and leadership and executive teams.
* Identify when a franchisee misses performance or profit targets and develop improvement plans.
* Share guidance, and coach franchisees through business situations such as sales, class launches, business structures, tax efficiencies, exit strategies, legacy planning, wellbeing, and work life balance.
* Drive existing Franchisee business growth and financial performance to maximise fee income.
* Effectively pursue agreed account plan goals and that deviations from plan are identified and corrected to ensure targets are achieved.
* Maintain awareness of direct and indirect competitors and substitutes.
* Conduct deep dive market research and complex analysis to find new market opportunities by identify market trends across media platforms for impactful marketing strategies.
* Monitor competitor activity, exploring a variety of options to improve brand visibility within relevant territories and consult with the marketing department to develop new strategies.
Cross-departmental
* Work cross-functionally with a wide variety of colleagues and external business partners, through effective leadership and collaboration.
* Collaborate with key stakeholders in the business to implement tactics consistent with the brand strategy, ensuring the consumer has a positive experience delivered through excellent customer service and high-quality delivery of the Stagecoach business model.
* Proactively seek out franchise development opportunities facilitating both resales and the sales of Greenfield territories working with the recruitment team to manage the Franchise re-sale process and to increase the number of territories and schools via internal sales and resales.
* To be innovative and develop the support centres support plans and support packages for franchisees to ensure profitability, optimum engagement, and sentiment.
* Contribute to providing a strong strategic approach to scaling Stagecoach Performing Arts advising on business growth providing a clear vision and expertise.
* Support and drive new initiatives from concept to delivery (page to stage)
* Collaborating with the Executive Directors produce the annual franchise development and support plan identifying key growth areas by country for board approval.
* Collaborate with key stakeholders in the business to implement and deliver this plan whilst maintaining a focus on change management consistent with the annual business plan and strategy, ensuring the franchisee and end consumer has a positive experience delivered through excellent customer service.
* Deliver quality reporting, by collecting, analysing, and reviewing information and trends to ensure that performance is appropriately measured against key performance indicators as required.
* Attend regular meetings at head office to feed back to key stakeholders' current challenges, risks, and solutions within the global franchise community.
* Communicate regularly with business stakeholders through Management Reporting, meetings and presentations on relevant franchise matters – on a termly basis to company Directors.
* Fine-tune company processes both at head office and franchisee level.
Compliance
* Work with the operations team to monitor compliance across the services delivered, ensuring standards and legislative requirements are met.
* Maintain positive and collaborative working relationships across all functions and with key stakeholders.
* Feedback on what is happening in the network and what we need to do central business strategy.
Training, Events, and meetings
* Educate / Coach and Mentor franchisees on business growth opportunities promoting best practice and continual improvement.
* Deliver training that supports excellent customer service and brand awareness, taking an active role in the annual conference and networking events.
* Take an active role developing and updating franchisee training materials and other support resources.
* Arrange training sessions to teach new skills and promote professional development so the franchises can better manager their business.
* Communicate regularly with Franchisees, sharing business updates through forums, network meetings, direct calls, email updates, site visits and 1:1 meeting.
* Create and develop franchise advocates in your cohort and proactively encourage networking, buddying, community, and localised meeting.
Budgets, Data and Central KPIs
* Be accountable achieving targets and overall department & brand success.
* Attend regular meetings providing feedback to key stakeholders re: current challenges and opportunities within the franchise network.
* Create detailed reports for Senior Leadership and Exec Teams with proactive commentary on proposed next steps and actions.
* Compile franchise performance data, using analytical skills, and financial data, making recommendations where appropriate for each franchisee.
* Manage individual and team budgets, reviewing management accounts monthly and supporting the Finance Team with any debtors.
Self-Development
* Drive self-development through ongoing research and networking.
* Keep up to date with the latest thinking at key industry events and to support self-development as part of a pre-agreed development schedule with your line manager.
* Maintain a focus on continuous improvement, seeking to make processes and franchisee support both high quality and efficient.
Skills
Essential
* Leadership:Exceptional, and demonstrable through experience, leadership ability.
* Financial Acumen:Strong commerciality. Ability to analyse financial data, assess the financial viability of potential franchisee strategies. Ability to analyse strategic and operational business needs and provide effective reports and commentary to Exec level team.
* Communication Skills: Adept at conflict resolution and maintaining positive relationships following challenging conversations. Drawing on demonstrable skills in coaching and mentoring rather than training.
* Networking: Excellent networking skills to build relationships with potential franchisees, brokers, and industry influencers. Experience in managing key stakeholders proactively and effectively. Demonstrating the ability to integrate yourself into the wider franchise network, speaking at industry events as required, and building a respected profile in the franchising community.
* Project Management:Strong organisational and project management skills to oversee multiple franchise development projects simultaneously.
* Problem Solving:Ability to identify challenges and develop creative solutions to address them. Proven track record of providing solutions to various growth problems.
* Team Collaboration:Work collaboratively with other team members and third parties, such as marketing, recruitment, and operations, to ensure smooth joined up processes.
* Adaptability:Ability to adapt to changes in the industry, company policies, and market conditions.
* Results-Driven:A goal-oriented mindset with a focus on achieving and exceeding franchise development targets.
* Multi-site/multi-unit Multi site: A proven track record of working with franchisees owning multiple territories and/or units. Potentially across business opportunities (more than one franchise business but in a related field)
* Customer Service Orientation: A commitment to providing excellent customer service to franchisees and understanding and adapting support to ensure the positive wellbeing of those franchisees.
* Personalskills: Emotionally Intelligent, self-motivated, inquisitive, and keen to learn.
* IT Literate and able to confidently use G suite and Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Desirable
* Affinity for Performing Arts and/or passion for making a difference in the lives of young people.
* Experience in running their own franchise business.
Qualifications / Experience
* Degree level or direct relevant experience in a franchise related role
* 5 years franchising experience (either working as a franchisee or for a franchisor)
* Role requires travel so a full, valid driving licence is essential.
* In-depth knowledge of business processes, practices, and tactics.
Trafalgar Entertainment is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from people in groups where we are under-represented, for example people with disabilities, from minority ethnic groups, older returners and people who are neurodivergent.
This role may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check or other security screening, depending on the specific requirements of the position.
We are curious, courageous, and ambitious, empowering people to challenge and innovate in pursuit of excellence.
This Job Description is not an exhaustive description of your duties. You will be required to adopt a flexible approach to your role and responsibilities. From time to time, you may be required to undertake such alternative or additional duties as may be commensurate with your skills, experience, and capabilities.