ears they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease

When purchasing a franchise be sure that you are aware of the hidden pitfalls. The unfortunate stories of these unfortunate Bakers Delight franchisees should be a warning and must read to anyone contemplating purchasing a franchise.

Andrew Austin franchisee 10 years

I began my career with Bakers Delight over fifteen years ago, ten of which were as a franchisee. My problems started three years ago when through a great deal of persuasion from Bakers Delight I purchased a second bakery from them. At the time Bakers Delight had a company-owned shop in Rozelle on the market at a price of $320,000 which seemed a fair price considering I was verbally told that the shop’s annual profits were around $80,000. However, from the first day of trading the shop was running at a loss. When I confronted Bakers Delight about the situation I was suddenly bombarded with various franchise agreement breach notices, some of which I could not explain. The real problems started when the bank demanded my loans to be paid out and my suppliers placed my accounts on hold after Bakers Delight notified them of the breach notices I had received. I had no choice but to put my shops on the market, which a franchisee is forced to do internally through Bakers Delight. Three years passed with no buyers for either of the shops and after realizing that there would be no buyers we put our company into liquidation.

Using a clause in the franchise agreement, Bakers Delight had six months to run the business as they please and the profitable Avalon store was instantly leased for a fee for six months then sold. The Rozelle store was closed as Bakers Delight, I am assuming, don’t want to be involved in an unprofitable business. To add salt to the wound I found out later that Bakers Delight bought Rozell by force off a past franchisee due to a buy back clause in the franchise agreement and needed to recoup their money so the business was sold on to me. I did try to resolve the problem in the early stages legally, however the process that protects franchises is a long drawn out one and we quickly ran out of money before we progressed far. When I bought the Rozelle store off Bakers Delight and then questioned the figures, is when my problems started. People must wonder why I bought a business without evidence of its profits, and in hindsight that is true, however after so long with the company and after having so much success in my businesses I simply thought their word was good enough. Although I don’t have a cent to my name I think my self lucky not to be in that situation now. No words can explain the psychological abuse and bullying tactics that Bakers Delight put me through during my last three years.

James Provoost: Employed Bakers Delight 13 years

I started with Bakers Delight in 1992 as a baker in several of the first stores in NSW and continued working as a production manager up until 2004. Throughout this time I increased sales in all the stores I managed and won numerous bread competitions. Due to my performance Ross Mcgowan the state manager NSW offered me the opportunity to lease and then buy my own business in Queensland. Ross Mcgowan put me in contact with Gail Buttler from the Queensland office and upon arriving we discussed several options and were given a long list of stores that Bakers Delight were prepared to finance me into. I knew of several of these stores and questioned Gail on the considerably lower prices that Bakers Delight were quoting compared to the advertised prices, she commented “Don’t worry they will take that price their shops have been on the market for years they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease

notices, some of which I could not explain. The real problems started when the bank demanded my loans to be paid out and my suppliers placed my accounts on hold after Bakers Delight notified them of the breach notices I had received. I had no choice but to put my shops on the market, which a franchisee is forced to do internally through Bakers Delight. Three years passed with no buyers for either of the shops and after realizing that there would be no buyers we put our company into liquidation.

Using a clause in the franchise agreement, Bakers Delight had six months to run the business as they please and the profitable Avalon store was instantly leased for a fee for six months then sold. The Rozelle store was closed as Bakers Delight, I am assuming, don’t want to be involved in an unprofitable business. To add salt to the wound I found out later that Bakers Delight bought Rozell by force off a past franchisee due to a buy back clause in the franchise agreement and needed to recoup their money so the business was sold on to me. I did try to resolve the problem in the early stages legally, however the process that protects franchises is a long drawn out one and we quickly ran out of money before we progressed far. When I bought the Rozelle store off Bakers Delight and then questioned the figures, is when my problems started. People must wonder why I bought a business without evidence of its profits, and in hindsight that is true, however after so long with the company and after having so much success in my businesses I simply thought their word was good enough. Although I don’t have a cent to my name I think my self lucky not to be in that situation now. No words can explain the psychological abuse and bullying tactics that Bakers Delight put me through during my last three years.

James Provoost: Employed Bakers Delight 13 years

I started with Bakers Delight in 1992 as a baker in several of the first stores in NSW and continued working as a production manager up until 2004. Throughout this time I increased sales in all the stores I managed and won numerous bread competitions. Due to my performance Ross Mcgowan the state manager NSW offered me the opportunity to lease and then buy my own business in Queensland. Ross Mcgowan put me in contact with Gail Buttler from the Queensland office and upon arriving we discussed several options and were given a long list of stores that Bakers Delight were prepared to finance me into. I knew of several of these stores and questioned Gail on the considerably lower prices that Bakers Delight were quoting compared to the advertised prices, she commented “Don’t worry they will take that price their shops have been on the market for years they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease

a past franchisee due to a buy back clause in the franchise agreement and needed to recoup their money so the business was sold on to me. I did try to resolve the problem in the early stages legally, however the process that protects franchises is a long drawn out one and we quickly ran out of money before we progressed far. When I bought the Rozelle store off Bakers Delight and then questioned the figures, is when my problems started. People must wonder why I bought a business without evidence of its profits, and in hindsight that is true, however after so long with the company and after having so much success in my businesses I simply thought their word was good enough. Although I don’t have a cent to my name I think my self lucky not to be in that situation now. No words can explain the psychological abuse and bullying tactics that Bakers Delight put me through during my last three years.

James Provoost: Employed Bakers Delight 13 years

I started with Bakers Delight in 1992 as a baker in several of the first stores in NSW and continued working as a production manager up until 2004. Throughout this time I increased sales in all the stores I managed and won numerous bread competitions. Due to my performance Ross Mcgowan the state manager NSW offered me the opportunity to lease and then buy my own business in Queensland. Ross Mcgowan put me in contact with Gail Buttler from the Queensland office and upon arriving we discussed several options and were given a long list of stores that Bakers Delight were prepared to finance me into. I knew of several of these stores and questioned Gail on the considerably lower prices that Bakers Delight were quoting compared to the advertised prices, she commented “Don’t worry they will take that price their shops have been on the market for years they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease

>James Provoost: Employed Bakers Delight 13 years

I started with Bakers Delight in 1992 as a baker in several of the first stores in NSW and continued working as a production manager up until 2004. Throughout this time I increased sales in all the stores I managed and won numerous bread competitions. Due to my performance Ross Mcgowan the state manager NSW offered me the opportunity to lease and then buy my own business in Queensland. Ross Mcgowan put me in contact with Gail Buttler from the Queensland office and upon arriving we discussed several options and were given a long list of stores that Bakers Delight were prepared to finance me into. I knew of several of these stores and questioned Gail on the considerably lower prices that Bakers Delight were quoting compared to the advertised prices, she commented “Don’t worry they will take that price their shops have been on the market for years they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease

ears they are desperate”. This did concern me at the time considering there were about half the stores in Queensland on the market and here attitude seemed ruthless.

We settled for Jimboomba the owner had it listed for $250,000 however Gail made the deal at $100,000 Bakers Delight informed me that the deal was done and instructed me to move my family to Jimboomba. I raised my concerns to Bakers Delight that relocating would cost me a substantial amount of money. Bakers Delight assured me that they would help by paying for the Registration of my company. Everyday I would receive a call from Gail Butler or the QLD Training manager asking if we had moved. Rental accommodation was scarce and the pressure from B/D forced us into a $250.00pw home with a 12mth lease. I informed Gail Buttler we had moved, we where running the store the next day. While waiting for Bakers Delight to organize our lease we increase the sales from $4000.00 to $6000.00 through a lot of hard work. After months of running the store and questioning when our lease would be ready to sign I was informed that the NOW profitable store was to be sold to another franchisee. I was told my last day would be 3rd Aug 2005 and I was to relocate to Toowoomba by the 1st Sept 05. I could not believe my ears, we had just moved!! We had just signed a 12 month lease and now they wanted us to move and take over Bakers Delight Toowoomba Central on the 1st September 05. I told Gail this was not financially viable for us as we could not possibly afford another move, the expense of another bond and the expense of paying double rent. Gail Buttler said Bakers Delight would cover the cost of this move, we signed a lease on Toowoomba Central and took over on 1st Sept. Bakers Delight reneged on the promise of paying our relocation costs leaving us to pay for everything:

-The broken lease in Jimboomba
-The new bond
-The removal costs
-Relocation of my children’s schooling, the list goes on.

The two moves cost us over $16,000 all they paid was $1,000 for registering our company to lease their Store. To cover the the remaining costs I had borrowed money from my elderly mother (money that had been put aside for her funeral) and Toowoomba Centrals takings. Due to this we were behind with our bills from day one and it did not take long for us to be approached by Trevor Haines the state manager for Queensland concerned of the situation. Regardless of having a 30% increase in sales, the highest in Queensland and a turnaround in profits from negative to a positive I was still told I had 7 days to be up to date with all bills. I had secured the money from a good friend in Sydney who was quite happy to be paid back in installments from the profits and assured me he would have the money in my account before the 7 day. It was only 4 days later when I was awoken during the day by my partner with a message from the sales staff that they were locked out of the store. Shortly after I received a call from Bakers Delight stating that they were reopening the shop with their own staff using the bread that I had produced the night before. To add further insult they kept 2 days banking in the safe and all my ingredients leaving my family broke and dependant on Salvation Army emergency accommodation and food vouchers. This has placed a great deal of pressure on my family not only financially but also emotionally and I hope that by telling my story if I save just one person from the same fate it was worth it. In retrospect with all the years working for the company and all that I have heard and witnessed Bakers Delight doing to there franchisees I should have seen it coming.