His achievements were recognised when he was named joint second place winner in the British Franchise Association’s Franchisee of the Year Awards 2004. The competition was judged by a panel led by BFA President Sir Bernard Ingham, former press secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Sponsored by HSBC and supported by the Daily Express, the awards aim to reward franchisees who demonstrate outstanding commercial achievement through ethical franchising and are sponsored by HSBC Bank and the Daily Express. The theme of this year’s competition is “Beating the Competition” – How Franchising Makes A Difference”.

Simon, 42, has just marked his 22nd year with BFA full member Snap-on, and now has his sights set on becoming their first franchisee to turnover a million pounds, a target he aims to meet next year. It’s all a long way from the three-year government-backed apprenticeship garage mechanic that he embarked on when he first left school.

He says: “I finished the apprenticeship just before I turned 21, but what I really wanted to run my own business. I knew someone from Snap-on who introduced me to the company, and I’d managed to build up some capital buying and selling motorbikes.” The rest, as they say, is history. Today he has a turnover of £750,000 and few competitors, a situation he puts down to hard work and the support of the franchisor.

Simon says: “It is about providing a regular, reliable service to customers, which I’ve been doing now for 22 years. But it is also about moving with the times, and Snap-on have invested a huge amount in new technology and support for franchisees to keep them ahead of the competition.”

Simon now operates three mobile sales units and has access to more than 20,000 products, while a sophisticated computer ordering system ensures that he is adequately stocked on a regular basis.

Already carrying out more than 600 regular weekly visits, he plans to add two more vans to his fleet of three and become more involved in management.

“Mine is still very much a hands on role, but over the next couple of years I aim to move into a more of a management role and concentrate on providing technical support.”

Snap-on’s managing director Terry Barcham is the first to acknowledge Simon’s outstanding achievement. He says: “Simon started out very much as a “man with a van”, but he has fully embraced the opportunity he has with Snap-on to develop his business as a management franchise. He has grown with us and he is an excellent role model for other franchisees within the network. He has proved how successful franchising can be.”

The award was presented to Simon by Director-General of the BFA Brian Smart at a gala dinner at the ICC in Birmingham on October 7.