On Wednesday the 9th of September 2009, I flew to Sydney to meet Peter Irvine, Co-Founder of Gloria Jeans Coffees
- Peter Irvine Co-Founder Gloria Jeans Coffees
Peter has had over 40 years experience in business at a high profile management level and started his career as a junior at Sydney Advertising Agency DDB Needham.
Over a span of 33 years at DDB, Peter acquired an extensive portfolio of business expertise, commencing in media planning and buying, progressing to Media Director for Sydney and National Campaigns, then onto General Manager and finally ending his career at DDB Needham as Managing Director.
Whilst at DDB, Peter was part of the team that launched McDonalds in Australia. Little did he know those early years working with the global franchising giant would prove invaluable in the next phase of his life.
In 1996 Peter together with his new business partner Nabi Saleh, established the Gloria Jean’s Coffees franchise in Australia.
The rest is history. Since 1996, Gloria Jean’s Coffees has grown to be the largest specialty coffee retailer and one of the fastest growing franchise organisations in Australia. Today there are over 490 Gloria Jean’s stores and kiosks across Australia and over 900 coffee houses in 35 countries worldwide.
In January 2005, Peter and Nabi purchased the international Master Franchise brand and supply and roasting rights for all countries.
Gloria Jean’s Coffees has continued to grow, demonstrating excellence in franchising and setting the standard internationally for Australian franchise models. This was recognized in 2005 when Gloria Jean’s Coffees won the PricewaterhouseCoopers Excellence in Franchising – Franchisor of the Year Award.
Gloria Jean’s Coffees has also won a number of other awards including:
- National Retailer Amex Supreme Retailer of the Year 2006.
- National Retailer Franchise Award of the Year 2006.
- NSW Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target Award for long-term comprehensive PR campaign.
Peter Irvine is a regular speaker at industry forums and events, including Franchise Council of Australia events, the National Retailers Convention and the BRW Franchising Round Table, where he talks about a range of franchise and business industry issues including legislation, motivational business advice and his signature speech – “20 keys that will catapult you to your vision.”
He recently published a book called “Win In Business”
Peter is a terrific guy and generous enough to give me some of his valuable time today.
We met at Gloria Jeans Darling Harbor where I was introduced to their latest taste sensation the “Very Vanilla Chiller”. At first I was reluctant to try something new and being a caffeine addict, I was not convinced that it could satisfy my taste buds. Let me assure you that I was gravely mistaken. All I can say is that I am converted. Do yourself a favor and sample their latest taste sensation.
Peters combination of experience as a co-founder of one of Australia’s top franchise operations along with his many years in Advertising in Australia was of particular interest to me.
For over 4 years, I have been developing a new franchise system that could potentially revolutionize the way businesses market and in particular how advertising agencies could better serve their customers.
I shared my vision with Peter to be the bolt on marketing department to medium sized businesses in the western world by turning account managers into franchisees.
Peter listened attentively as I explained how I was going about putting this plan into action through having local area marketing experts that worked with local businesses to help them grow.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Peter smiling as I spoke passionately about my vision and plans.
My enthusiasm was rewarded when Peter explained to me that what I was offering was a perfect fit with franchise businesses and franchisors would welcome having an independent organisation looking after their marketing. You see most franchisees pay a percentage of their turnover into a marketing fund and are often suspicious of what franchisors do with these funds. Having an external expert like us would not only relive this pressure but would also benefit the business by having an independent expert “taking care of marketing”
Peter said
“I am a fan of franchising and this opportunity allows marketing and advertising people to build, grow and own their business with access to a business system and experience.
You also have the benefit of tapping into a wide range of marketing experience at a time when companies need a range of marketing services.”
I look forward to catching up with Peter when he is next in Melbourne.
Jeremy Hope
Franchisor
