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INTERVI EW 80 WHAT FRANCHISE | ISSUE 19.3 5minuteswith... LYNNE LISTER The MD of X-Press Legal Services explains why human connection and partnership is key to operating within a successful franchise didn’t go to university. I fell into my first role in franchising many years ago when I met Colin Bradbury. He ran a magazine called Business Franchise . At the time, I was a youngish mum with three kids and just needed a part-time job, so I went to work for the publishing company. At the time, franchising was still really in the dark ages, it was still very much lumped in with multi-level marketing. I ended up becoming the editor of Business Franchise and I did it for 10 I years. I had no experience, so the imposter syndrome was huge, especially when mixing with very professional people, but I just cracked on and enjoyed every minute. I spoke to a lot of franchisors, discussing their businesses, and how they put things together, and I also talked to a lot of franchisees. It was an absolute classic education in franchising. I had never run a business, but I knew all the theory because I was writing about it every day. A decade on, I got to the stage where I was ready for a new challenge and so was my eldest son. One day I spoke to my friend who was a conveyancer, and we then decided to train as conveyancers. From there, my son and I started very small as X-Press Legal Services and we’ve since built from there. All my children, my husband, and my daughter-in-law are now part of our executive team. I’m one of the luckiest people you’re ever going to meet, the right people seem to appear when I’m ready for a change. What have you found most fulfilling about your latest role? Like any business, it has its ups and downs, but it has been really fulfilling and I’m delighted to say we have sold all our territories. We’ve got franchisees that have been with us since the franchise’s inception, and quite a few people who have been here for 17 years or more. They’ve come to us from different walks of life, some not knowing about our business or about franchising. It’s just wonderful to see how they’ve grown very successful companies in their own right, under our umbrella. We’re a very sociable group. I’ve just come back from a weekend in the Cotswolds with what we call our ‘Excellence Club’. So that’s our four or five top franchisees with best turnover and those with most improvement. We also put together roadshows where we bring everybody together. We have our own academy, where our franchisees are invited to workshops in-person and online. I also still run our own original business which is now our North Cheshire, Merseyside, and Manchester territory. What have been the biggest challenges you’ve encountered? The biggest challenges are always ones that are outside of your control. When the government