Read why TaxAssist Franchisee Andrew Twynam left the rat race of the city to purchase his franchise

Andrew Twynam, a qualified Chartered Accountant of more than ten years standing, previously worked for a London firm as a finance director and was seeking a better quality of life. Andrew acquired and opened his first franchise in Chesham in march 2012 and opened his second location in Hemel Hempstead shortly after.

"It's a familiar story. I had four year old twin boys and unfortunately I was leaving for work way before they were getting up, and when I arrived home they would already be fast asleep in bed. This resulted in me only really having quality time with them during the weekends, and this put a lot of strain on the family.

I remember seeing a TaxAssist Accountants shop that had recently opened as I sat in my taxi travelling to a charity function in London. The exterior of the shop look astonishing, already aware that TaxAssist Accountants are a franchise, I initiated my franchise research the very next day. I must admit that I was rather sceptical at the start whilst I was undertaking my franchise research, So I decided to speak to a number of franchisees who corroborated what I'd been told and this seemed like the right franchise opportunity for me.

I knew that my next stage would be to find a shop, but the perfect property didn't come along immediately and it was vitally important that I didn't move things along too quickly and risk choosing the wrong shop in the wrong location.

I therefore decided to operate my TaxAssist Accountants franchise from a serviced office for 6 months until I had found a property that I was happy with. Once it di come along, I jumped at the opportunity and I was all set up and open within a further 3 months.

To celebrate the purchase of my new shop we decided to hold a shop launch in May of that year. The thinking behind this was to wait for better weather rather than officially opening in winter. I was fortunate enough to be able to get the Mayor of Chesham, Mark Shaw to attend as the guest of honour and cur the ribbon. It was a fantastic afternoon with food and bubbly in attendance. Phil Sullivan (Network Operations Director) was also in attendance as well as staff, clients and other supporters of the business.

It was always going to be a big risk leaving a well paid job within the city, buy this has more than paid off, I haven't looked back. We now have a combined 170 clients through my first two TaxAssist Accountants franchise shops and they're still growing. I'm now in the very fortunate position where I can even start to think about opening my third location within my territory sometime in the future.

While I still do work late, I can always finish outstanding work from the comfort of my home in the evenings, as I am my own boss. Vitally important for my family was the reduction on my previous two hour daily commute, I can now be home in time for dinner and to put my boys to bed."

Andrew Twynam