Success Stories

Some of the success stories achieved by our franchisees, both here in the UK and abroad.

Activ helps couple attain long term dream

Cecilia and John Holden…

Using the Activ Neb Marketing business model has enabled a husband and wife team to realise a long-held ambition of working together in their own IT-based business….

Cecilia and John Holden, who have between them more than 45 years’ experience in IT, started operating their business in 2008.

For Cecilia, who used to work for a large international investment bank in the City, the decision has improved her life beyond all recognition. She said: “My job used to entail a three and a half hour commute as well as travelling backwards and forwards to New York every few weeks. This may sound glamorous but the novelty soon wears off and despite being well paid in my old job, I am a million times happier since I decided to give it up and run my very own web design business with John.”

“The decision to operate our own business has been a great move for John too, who had been running his own golf ball business but had been looking for an alternative to that to support their income”

In the course of her work Cecilia has helped a diverse range of businesses not only to gain an online presence but to update their existing web pages and address problems with their sites.

She added: “One customer, who had moved premises and wanted to update his contact details, couldn’t track down the people who had originally built it in 2000 and was being asked for a ridiculous figure just to change his address.

“We managed to resolve his issues efficiently and cost-effectively as well as providing him with a better site.”

Have a look what else John and Cecilia have to say about their time with us in a short video interview by clicking here

Working Mum leaves full time employment

Husband & wife team build a successful business

Lisa & Reece Smith joined Activ in 2009. Back then she was looking for a new focus and challenge. She was keen to find a business to operate around her family and one that gave her total flexibility.

At the end of 2011 due to her hard work and commitment she was recognised for her achievements in the year’s "Franchise of the Year Start-ups Awards" sponsored by NatWest Bank.

Speaking to Lisa, she commented, “I would like to thank everyone at Activ for their continued support and guidance. Starting a business is hard work and thanks to the expert assistance of everyone at Activ I have grown my Activ business and I’m honoured to reach the finals of this prestigious national award.”

Activ provides online marketing services to SME’s across the UK. Since their inception in 2007 they have grown at a phenomenal rate and are operational in a number of countries including Spain, Australia, and Singapore.

They support thousands of customers daily, providing them a range of services including, web design, SEO, email marketing, mobile websites and social media training.

Lisa Smith operates her Activ Net Marketing Franchise in Dunmow, Essex.

When asked why she felt her Activ business had been so successful she stated, “Over recent times money has been tight for small businesses. However as Activ focus on providing services at a price businesses can afford and above all delivers the results a small business needs, I believe this has been the key to my success as I have loads of happy customers.”

Start-up Awards recognise the hard work of entrepreneurs across the UK. In recent times they have recognised the achievements of companies such as Wonga, Seatwave, Zoopla and Reggae Reggae Sauce

Following on from this success in August 2013 Lisa & her husband Reece won Essex’s respective 2013 Club and League ‘Website of the Year’ Awards. Their prize being a pair of tickets to the traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season at Wembley plus a pre-match meal nearby as Premier League champions Manchester United took on FA Cup winners Wigan Athletic.

hitting the road running in ipswich

My name is Peter Mann and I operate Activ Web Design in Ipswich. I joined in early December of 2010 and I have found the experience to be extremely positive and lots of fun.. From a standing start I sold 16 websites, in about 16 weeks which works out to be almost exactly 1 every week.

One of the really encouraging things about Activ is that there clearly is a huge demand for websites and the market is hungry to buy the product that Activ has to sell.

The great thing is I am working when I want and choosing the hours I work.  Being your own boss gives you a fantastic level of satisfaction.

Yes I’m working hard, but I’m no longer doing it for other people. I’m doing it for myself, because I want to reap the rewards, rather than working really hard so someone else can benefit. As far as selling is concerned, I don’t believe that you need to have strong sales experience to succeed with Activ... it’s not a hard sell by any means; it’s more of a consultancy role.

Most small to medium sized business already understand the need to be online. They understand the benefits to the business in terms of showcasing the business, helping them stand out from the competition, helping to increase sales, footfall, revenue, profits, all of those good things and the fact they are not already online is because of the perception and in some cases the reality that for small to medium size businesses to get online can be quite time consuming, can be very expensive and can be quite difficult.we

Activ takes off for former british airways hr manager

It’s been 4 years since former British Airways human resources senior manager Mark Rouvray bought an Activ Net Marketing franchise but in a relatively short space of time business has really taken off.

Mark, who spent 14 years in management with BA and, before that 10 years with British Gas, has amassed a wealth of experience and knowledge during his long career with major PLC’s.

But when the opportunity came to take voluntary redundancy, he decided to change direction and invest in an Activ franchise.

Mark holds an MBA in IT management as well as a BSc Hons degree in operational research, wanted a franchise which had an IT element – but more importantly, put him in contact with growing small businesses.

He said: “Much of what I did while at BA related to computers and I also managed a team developing website content for the company intranet.

“Although always interested in IT, I realised I would like to play a more creative part in the end product. What also appealed to me about Activ was the technical support and expertise which exists within Activ’s head office.

“Knowing that the Activ team can provide this means I can be confident of assisting clients should their IT needs be of a more bespoke nature and go beyond that of a standard website package.”

Mark, whose impressive client portfolio features almost every trade from builder to electrician, has also created websites for a diverse range of retailers including a jeweller, high street butcher and a home accessories business.

And, in addition to offering websites, Mark also promotes SEO and mobile websites. He enjoys being able to speak with small businesses on a one to one basis – passing on experience he has gained while working in senior positions for household name employers over many years.

He said: “Some of the franchising opportunities I looked at before buying Activ primarily involved the franchisee becoming a salesperson.

“I wanted something which offered more than merely selling and ultimately I would like my Activ franchise to focus not only on websites but also business consultancy for smaller companies looking for guidance and advice on how to get the best out of the Interent.

“I am now at the stage where I am receiving recommendations and am confident of winning more work as smaller businesses acknowledge that a website should be high on their list of priorities.”

And Mark, whose former role at Heathrow involved a two hour a day round commute, also appreciates the flexibility his major career change has provided.

He added: “Making the move has changed my life/work balance for the better and I very much look forward to continuing to grow my business.”

We are one of the UK’s largest web design companies!

The Bluesky Group’s Activ Web Design software was introduced in 2008 and since then we have evolved into a comprehensive Neb Marketing franchise, providing numerous individuals the opportunity to achieve their life long ambition of working for themselves.

We boast thousands of customers from all types of organisations, ranging from Online Toy Shop's to Accountants. Our rapid growth has seen the company expand beyond our UK shores to Ireland & Spain. We also have offices in Singapore covering the Asia Pacific region with licensees in Singapore, Australia & Thailand.

danielle building a successful business down under

Australian mother makes a lifestyle choice by choosing the Activ Net Marketing opportunity!

The task of juggling work with family commitments can seem like a difficult step for some. Going to work when your mind is elsewhere is a common issue facing many working mothers. 32 year old Danielle Beltramelli found this a very familiar situation indeed.

Being a working mother, Danielle’s main joy in life came from spending valuable time at home with her 2 year old daughter. When she wasn’t at home she was at the bank where she was working part time – two days a week.

Wanting to improve her lifestyle she decided that she wanted to earn more money. Her main problem – she didn’t want to be working in an office at the expense of the time she could be spending at home.

She had to look for a different way of doing things. Living in modern times, she knew that the internet would open up a world of opportunities……

So Danielle began looking for internet businesses that she could run from home. She was looking to earn a second income in a career which gave her the flexibility she needed.

“I wanted to earn more money as I was only working at the bank for 2 days a week but I didn’t want to increase my hours there. I have a 2 year old daughter and didn’t want to have to send her to day care for me to work, so I wanted something I could do from home which is how I came across the Activ license opportunity”

Activ was instantly impressed by Danielle’s passion and gave her an Australian license for Activ Net Marketing. Creating professional and affordable websites from the comfort of her own home meant that Danielle could be at home with her family and choose how many hours she wanted to put in.

Being a working mother with two part time careers meant that Danielle should have had a demanding lifestyle. Wrong – the Activ opportunity gave her the level of flexibility that she needed.

“Its a great opportunity to have my own business whilst being a stay at home mum. The Activ Net Marketing opportunity is going great, I am thoroughly enjoying it. It fits in very well with my lifestyle and my business is getting busier every day. I choose my own hours and work whenever I can around my responsibilities. At the moment I’m probably putting in around 10 hours a week so this level of choice is great for me and my family”

And its not just work and family commitments that Danielle seems to find time for. Danielle realises the importance of also making time for herself. The Activ net marketing opportunity did not risk her social life as she could choose to work around her social commitments – in fact she was now earning money so it helped!

“I love the fact that I decide when to work as I don’t think I could be without socialising with my friends and going shopping – I may be a working mother with two jobs but its important to have a bit of ‘me’ time”

The biggest benefit of all that came with the Activ opportunity – she didn’t go it alone. Danielle received unrivalled support from the Activ head office in areas such as sales/marketing and technical support. Talking about the licensee support package Danielle adds

activ makes the perfect family business in australia

Eric Fitton (49), an ambitious Australian entrepreneur, was looking to run a successful online business which is why he began searching for internet franchises with the help of his wife Julie.

“We had looked at lots of opportunities and browsed through many web sites including franchises and were not able to find the right opportunity that suited our lifestyle. We did come across a couple of franchises that were close to what we thought might be the right one only to find the start up costs and the commissions involved were too expensive and did not leave you with enough to also enjoy a good lifestyle which is what it is all about. Then I came across the Activ opportunity and it quickly got my attention”

Eric already had a full-time job so he decided to look for an opportunity that he could do in his spare time – so he began looking for a home based franchise.

“I have always had a great deal of interest in technology and design so when I spotted the Activ advertisement it got my attention straight away. Initially I took it on part time as I have a full time position which takes up most of my time, my thoughts were that I could fit Activ in during my spare time”

Eric saw demand increase and also found that he could offer other services too. The number of customers he got through his web site www.activwebdesignqld.com rose quite sharply. As Eric was working full-time he brought Julie on board to meet the extra demand. Together they began to make the most of what the opportunity could offer – in turn Activ Web Design QLD became the perfect family business.

“My wife and I had always fancied having our own family business. As the business developed and generated a number of additional opportunities, it needed more attention which was great for us as my wife got involved in the day to day running of the business”

The Activ Web Design opportunity changed their lives completely. A once traditional household was transformed into a modern business operation with both husband and wife working together to achieve their goals.

“Before Activ I had my full time job and my wife was at home doing the housewife role, things have changed much for my wife, she now has a goal to achieve with the business and although our days are pretty full and busy there is a great sense of achievement when we get a new customer”

Further opportunities came about showing that investment would be recouped quicker than they had thought……

“When I got my first customer not only did they want a website but a few spin off items came along with it, I quickly realised there were other value add services that most customers require when looking at a new site, especially if they are a new start up business. My first site led to 2 more sales opportunities which I converted into customers and I have not looked back since”

“We have great expectation for our business, as we grow we envisage there will be more opportunities to add more products to our portfolio of offerings to new and existing customers, word of mouth has been a great thing for us, it’s surprising how quickly word spreads, I have a new customer that called only last week, I have done a website for one of his business associates and he was so impressed he is thinking about re-vamping his existing website, we are now discussing the layout for his new site”

Today, Eric and Julie are known as the proud owners of a flourishing business. Eric still has his full-time job with Julie taking on the day to day running of the Activ business. They had the support of each other, true but they also had the unrivalled support from the Activ head office who were never too busy to take a call.

“I have been really impressed with the support I have received from Activ Head Office. I am always able to get hold of the support team when I have needed them, nothing seems to be too much trouble, when I ask for help it is there straight away”.

activ makes its mark with small businesses

Activ Net Marketing prides itself on the quality of the product delivered at a price small business can afford & our competitors can only dream about. Our franchise not only delivers a web presence it generates additional income for small business that we work with. Below are just a few comments from our customers….

Ken Wright – JKE Limited – “Great job… My business needed a site and I was referred to Terry at Activ. I’m really pleased with the end result. I am now gaining new business as a direct result of the website. When I show it to others, they can’t believe it was done for the price!”

Andy and Karen Bagley- Harvest Woodcraft - We were recommended to use Activ Web and with no doubt in our mind we made the right decision. Our business has started to go from strenght to strenght since we have had our web-site. The service we recieved was re-markable and still is. Any quieres Activ is always willing to assist. We would recommend Activ Web.

Les Ivall – The John O’Gaunt Inn – “It’s a fantastic business-building tool. Within a week of going online we had a booking for a birthday lunch with 19 guests, from someone who didn’t know we existed until finding us on the web”

Thomas Swaine - Thomas Swaine Hairdressing - Very impressed with the website and speed with which the website was setup. Mark was on-hand to answer any questions I had during the process. Good value for money and extensive advice throughout. I would definitely recommend Mark and Activ in the future.

Michelle Taylor, Manager – Isis Ensemble – “We’re absolutely delighted with the level of service we’ve received from Activ. Paul listened to all our requirements from the outset and has been there every step of the way, from the initial design of the site to the everyday maintenance and updates. He has responded to all our requests immediately. We’re thrilled with our site, it’s working really well for us and we would not hesitate to recommend Paul to anyone.”

Robin Bevan – Bevan’s Butchers – “Mark Rouvray designed and set up our website. Excellent service! The feedback we have had has been very positive. The website is very easy to use and is just what we wanted.”

Kevin Jacobs – Beacon Property Services – “Thank you both so very much for the absolutely superb work you have done in constructing and launching our new website. We are totally thrilled with how good it looks and how well it works.”

David Skeldon - Framework Doncaster - Vikky Clarke from Activ Web Design is a real star! Problems with our previous Website meant Vikky had to bring forward our build by 2 weeks to restore our website presence. We relied heavily on Vikky's design flair and creativity and nothing was too much trouble for her. Such great value too!

Adrian Holt - Adrian Holt Ceramics - I have worked with Gill Donoghue since April of this year. During this time she has set up my website and e marketing facility and advised on marketing for my business. I have found Gill to be reliable and efficient, very friendly and approachable. Several colleagues have commented on the high standard of the website and I have recommended her to others interested in developing their own websites.

Sally Gill - Sally Gill Flowers - I can highly recommend Activ Web Design as a very good web design company. I am very happy with the look of my site Sally Gill Flowers. It is just what I wanted and good value for money. Their personal approach was very efficient and patient throughout the creative process.

Greorio Cottone – La Torre Restaurant – “We are delighted with our website which has already paid for itself. We used to post out our Christmas menu but this year have saved on printing & postage costs by referring customers to our website, customers check out the website and ring back instantly to book. Activ Web Design have also helped with our email marketing and search engine optimisation, we will definitely use Activ for any further websites in the future.”

Trevor Prothero, Managing Director – MLP Railway Maintenance Ltd – “It has been a great pleasure working with Activ Web Design and more so with Paul Sensky of Activ. Their response to me wanting to set up a website was immediate and Paul knowing nothing about railways picked up what I required straight away and in my eyes made an excellent job of compiling my website. I have had lots of people comment on how good the website is. Anyone wanting to see the end product should visit www.mlprail.co.uk to see what an excellent job Paul has done.”

Tracy Hole - One Six Queens - From my first free consultation with Activ Web Design I received a friendly and professional service. They very helpful in explaining web design and how it works in a way that I could understand. The service provided was fast and efficient and my website was designed just the way I wanted it and was great value for money. I will continue to use Activ and recommend them to others.

Dave Rixon - Status Furnishings - Thank you all at Activ Web Design for the great job you have made of our website. Right from the start the highly professional service provided by Dave in finding out about our business and designing our website has been outstanding. Already we are receiving inquiries and orders through the website. Speaking to business associates they have told me that they paid far more for their websites. Like the saying goes if I had known how easy it was going to be I would have done it years ago. Thankyou.

Leigh Cross - White Hart Wimbish - Thank you for making our website fantastic, we have had a lot of feedback from regular and new customers and would like to say from start to present your professional attitude to our ideas have been second to none, thank you and we have no hesitation in recommending you both to anyone out there looking for a great web page.