How it works

Enquiry to
opening day

Six to nine months, and no part of it is designed to rush you. Territories are sold once, so it matters more to us that the right person takes one than that it goes quickly.

The seven stages

You get in touch

The enquiry form asks about your target territory, your background, your timeline and the capital you have available. It is longer than most because a short form produces a short answer. You will have the full prospectus by email straight away, along with access to the configurators so you can price a centre yourself.

A proper conversation

Around thirty minutes. We will go through your territory, what is realistic there, and what running a centre actually involves week to week. If we do not think it is a fit we will tell you on this call rather than three months later.

Due diligence, in both directions

You get the full financial model with every assumption exposed, the operations manual, and the franchise agreement. We ask for proof of funds and take up references. You will have at least fourteen days with the agreement before anything is signed, in line with the British Franchise Association Code of Ethics. Take it to a franchise solicitor. We would think less of you if you did not.

Signing

Licence signed, fees paid, your territory locked and mapped to postcode districts in Schedule 1. Mentor Certification is scheduled and the site search begins. We help you assess units, because the wrong site is expensive for both of us.

Training and fit-out

Four weeks of Mentor Certification for you and your first hires, two of them on site at a working centre. In parallel, your unit is fitted out to the PLAI Labs specification. You complete walls, electrics and flooring first, then the Robocode build begins.

Launch

The campaign starts before the doors open. A videographer produces your brand assets, HQ runs the advertising, and 200 qualified leads are delivered into your Free Tech Assessment pipeline. Someone from HQ is there for your opening, working alongside you on the first assessments.

The first year

Weekly check-ins while you find your feet, then quarterly business reviews. The target in the agreement is 200 active Robocoders by month 12, and the model breaks even between months 12 and 18.

Questions

Before you commit

Do I need a teaching background?
No. Most franchisees do not have one. You need to run the business, recruit and retain good Mentors, and be visible locally. Teaching is done by certified Mentors against a written curriculum. What matters far more is whether you will walk into the local primary school and introduce yourself.
Can I run it alongside another job?
Not in the first year. Opening a centre is a full-time job and the launch period decides your trajectory. Once it is trading and you have a centre manager, several franchisees step back to a few days a week.
What do I need to find in a site?
Between 150 and 300 square metres depending on the tier, ground floor or with a lift, parking or good transport, and visible enough that people notice it. Class E use is usually right. We will look at units with you and tell you honestly when one will not work.
How is my territory defined?
By a named list of postcode districts and a map, both attached to your agreement as Schedule 1. Typically 100,000 to 200,000 residents, and up to around 250,000 where the postcode geography does not divide cleanly, on Royal Mail and Ordnance Survey boundaries. Either party can ask for a review if the population moves more than 20% from the agreed figure.
What happens if I want out?
Six months' written notice for a voluntary exit. There is a twelve month restriction afterwards on running a competing children's technology business in your former territory, which is standard and is there to protect the next franchisee as much as us.
Can I sell the business?
Yes, subject to our approval of the buyer and them completing Mentor Certification. A franchise with a full centre and a trading history is a saleable asset, which is part of the point of building one.
What if a competitor opens next door?
They might. Your protection is not that nobody else can teach coding, it is that nobody else can offer BCS accreditation, a JCQ exam centre, a nineteen course curriculum and a national brand. That gap took years to build and is not quickly copied.
Who owns the customers?
You do, within your territory. Online, remote and national channels are reserved to Robocode, but any enquiry we receive for in-person delivery inside your territory is passed to you and is your revenue.
Start the conversation