People often assume my journey into ROOMS® began with property.

In truth, it began with business.

Looking back, entrepreneurship has been a constant throughout my career. In 1986, I was running a retail business at a relatively young age. Those early years taught me lessons that have stayed with me ever since. When you're responsible for serving customers, managing cashflow and making payroll, you quickly learn that success doesn't happen by accident.

Some weeks everything goes to plan. Other weeks you're solving problems you never saw coming. It was an invaluable education, one that taught me resilience, adaptability and the importance of building businesses on solid foundations.

At the age of 23, I moved into financial services. It was a very different world, but one thing remained the same: people place enormous trust in those helping them make important decisions about their future. Over the years, my career moved between the financial services and property sectors, giving me a broad understanding of both industries and how closely they are connected.

By 2012, I was working as a franchise consultant, helping business owners develop and expand their franchise networks. Thanks to my background, many of the businesses I advised operated within the property sector. My role was to analyse business models, identify growth opportunities and help entrepreneurs create systems that could be successfully replicated by others.

It was fascinating work because it gave me a unique perspective on what makes businesses succeed and, just as importantly, what causes them to fail.

One lesson became clear very quickly.

A successful business is rarely built on a great idea alone.

The businesses that thrive are built on strong values, effective systems, consistent delivery and people who genuinely care about the customers they serve.

By 2012, I had spent years sitting across the table from business owners discussing their ambitions, challenges and aspirations. One question was always at the back of my mind:

“Would I invest in this business myself?”

Most opportunities never made it beyond that question.

Some lacked a genuine market need. Others depended too heavily on the founder. Many simply weren't scalable.

Then I came across the emerging co-living sector.

What many now call co-living was still largely referred to as HMOs and shared housing. Whilst demand was growing rapidly, the sector remained fragmented and inconsistent. There were some excellent operators, but there were also too many landlords and property managers treating shared living as a purely transactional business.

The sector needed to evolve.

The opportunity wasn't simply in property. The opportunity was in raising standards.

From a business perspective, I could see something that immediately caught my attention. If managed correctly, shared living could create genuine value for landlords, provide a far better experience for tenants and, importantly, become a highly scalable business model.

It was around this time that I met Iain English.

Looking back, that meeting in December 2012 would prove to be one of the most important conversations of my career.

Whilst the commercial opportunity was clear, opportunities alone don't build successful businesses.

People do.

What impressed me most was not the business model.

It was Iain.

His passion for the sector, his commitment to quality and his genuine desire to create something better stood out immediately. There was a sincerity to his vision and a determination to improve standards rather than simply maximise profits.

The commercial opportunity was attractive, but it was his values, integrity and work ethic that convinced me this was a partnership worth pursuing.

We shared a belief that tenants deserved better.

We shared a belief that landlords needed more professional solutions.

And we shared a belief that a business built around customer experience, quality and consistency could transform the sector.

Unlike many people entering the market at the time, I never viewed it solely as a property opportunity.

I saw it as a franchise opportunity.

Having spent years helping businesses scale through franchising, I could see the potential almost immediately.

The co-living sector needed greater professionalism. It needed stronger systems. It needed consistency.

Franchising provided the perfect vehicle to achieve all three.

For me, the goal was never simply to build another property management business.

The goal was to create a platform capable of helping landlords improve returns, enabling tenants to enjoy better homes and providing ambitious entrepreneurs with an opportunity to build successful businesses of their own.

On 1 July 2013, Iain and I incorporated Rooms & Co Ltd and began turning that vision into reality.

Whilst many businesses focus on growth first and systems later, we deliberately took the opposite approach.

We focused on building strong foundations.

The early days certainly weren't glamorous.

There were countless meetings, long evenings, robust debates and plenty of difficult decisions. We spent hours discussing processes, refining ideas, testing assumptions and asking ourselves a simple but important question:

“Could somebody else successfully replicate this?”

If the answer was no, we went back and improved it.

We weren't trying to create a business that would succeed because of us.

We were trying to create a business that would succeed because of the strength of the systems behind it.

Many of the principles, processes and standards that remain at the heart of ROOMS® today were born during those early years.

We refined the model, documented best practice, developed operational frameworks and continually improved the customer experience for both landlords and tenants.

Over time, our vision became clearer.

We weren't just building a property business.

We were building a framework for entrepreneurship.

After several years of refining and proving the model, a major milestone arrived on 11 August 2016 when the first ROOMS® franchise partner joined the network.

For me, that moment represented validation.

Validation that the systems worked.

Validation that the model could be replicated.

Validation that other entrepreneurs could achieve success using the framework we had created.

As the network grew, the most rewarding part of the journey wasn't the territories launched, the contracts won or the revenue generated.

It was the people.

When people ask what I'm most proud of, they often expect me to talk about business growth.

The truth is very different.

My proudest moments have always involved franchise partners.

Watching someone leave employment to take control of their future.

Seeing them sign their first landlord.

Watching their confidence grow.

Seeing them create opportunities for their family.

Hearing them achieve milestones they once thought were beyond their reach.

Knowing that ROOMS® has played a small part in helping people achieve those successes is incredibly rewarding.

Whilst I'm proud of what ROOMS® has achieved as a business, I'm even more proud of what our franchise partners have achieved through it.

Today, the co-living sector continues to evolve.

Technology is changing how businesses operate. Consumer expectations continue to rise. Landlords face new challenges and opportunities. Yet the fundamental principles that inspired ROOMS® remain exactly the same.

  • Raise standards.
  • Create value.
  • Put customers first.
  • Build strong systems.
  • Help good people succeed.

Looking back, I realise ROOMS® was never simply about property.

It was about creating opportunity.

Opportunity for landlords to achieve better results.

Opportunity for tenants to enjoy a higher quality of living.

Opportunity for entrepreneurs to build businesses they can be proud of.

That's what inspired us in 2012.

It's what drove us in 2013.

It's what validated the launch of our first franchise partner in 2016.

And it's still what excites me most today.

As we celebrate ten years of franchising, I remain more optimistic about the future than ever.

There are still landlords looking for better solutions.

There are still tenants seeking professionally managed homes.

And there are still ambitious people who want to build successful businesses with the support of an established brand and proven framework.

The first decade was about proving the model.

The next decade is about expanding the opportunity.

If the past has taught me anything, it's that the biggest opportunities are often found where changing markets, strong systems and ambitious people come together. That's exactly where ROOMS® began, and it's exactly where we're headed next.

Could ROOMS® Be Your Next Chapter?

As we celebrate ten years of franchising, we're always interested in speaking with ambitious individuals who share our values and want to build a successful business in the growing co-living sector.

If you're entrepreneurial, customer-focused and looking for a proven route into business ownership, we'd love to hear from you.

Whether you're considering a brand-new territory or an established resale opportunity, ROOMS® provides the systems, support, brand and experience to help you succeed.

The first chapter began with opportunity. The next chapter could begin with you.