Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection, has announced Northern Ireland franchisee, Seamus Given, has grown his franchise by 18% in the past 12 months. Seamus who joined Card Connection as a franchisee 13 years ago supplies and merchandises Card Connection’s quality range of greetings cards and accessories to retailers in County Londonderry, and West Tyrone.

Former Spar retail owner, Seamus Given explains: “I first discovered Card Connection as a franchisee supplied my stores. When the opportunity came up to purchase the franchise I jumped at the chance to take on a role with much more variety and far less stress!

“Since start-up I have managed the franchise on my own, however, Card Connection secured a number of new national accounts last year, including stores belonging to SUPERVALU which is part of Musgraves,” continues Given. “After a successful pilot, I started supplying greetings cards to the stores on an ongoing basis. I have needed to take on part-time help to manage the increase in workload!

“I normally start at about 8am and visit between 5-6 stores per day then am home mid-afternoon to complete any paperwork and prepare for the next day’s deliveries,” confirms Given. “Each day is a new challenge even though I have worked with some of the same retail managers for 13 years now! It is a testament to the team at Card Connection and the quality of the product that I am still able to continue to grow my franchise in this established market place.”

Card Connection’s proven business model has enabled hundreds of franchisees to run successful businesses over the past two decades. Fifteen full-time head office staff manage 100 national retail accounts on behalf of the franchisee network.