When experienced franchisees Duncan Small and Phil Calvert sold their
sandwich bar in Edinburgh in 2004, little did they know they would have
opened 11 Smart Cartridge stores within three years?

The pair were so impressed with the set-up at Smart Cartridge - one of the
UKs fastest growing franchising businesses that specialises in ink cartridge
refills and laser cartridge remanufacture - that they decided to take on the
master franchise rights for Ireland and kick start the business in Ireland.

While Phil headed over to open the first store in Portadown, Duncan remained
at the firms headquarters in Edinburgh to get to grips with the role of
technical manager. During that time he became fully versed in the technical
ins and outs of all things cartridge - be that ink or laser.

In the first year the pair opened four stores in Galway, Dublin, Omagh and
Portadown. The group has now grown to 10 stores with four based in the North
at Armagh, Newry, Portadown and Omagh - and seven in Eire at Arklow, Cork,
Dublin (Walkinstown), Dublin (South), Waterford and Wexford.

Smart Cartridge Ireland Director Duncan explained: There are still
significant development opportunities available particularly in cities like
Belfast, Derry, Dublin and Limerick. Franchise territories remain available
in the South of Ireland with franchise opportunities in the central areas
with towns like Kilkenny, Athlone, Sligo, Ennis, Dundalk, Navan, Naas and
Castlebar. We are now recruiting motivated and like minded franchisees to
help develop the brand throughout Ireland and are excited about the future
of the Smart Cartridge Franchise Business here in Ireland.

Ireland has always been very aware of the requirement to foster green
methods and has embraced the ethos of the alternative to original cartridge
purchasing.  Re-using and refilling empty cartridge at Smart Cartridge not
only saves our home and business customers up to 60% on the cost of buying a
brand new cartridge, they also help to reduce local landfill sites by
reducing the number of used cartridges being thrown away each year.  There
is absolutely no compromise on quality or page yield - who wouldn't want to
do this?

He added: The Smart Cartridge Franchise is always looking to evolve and
increase revenue streams for franchisees. The introduction of an extensive
range of office and home stationery consumables has proven to be a great
success; our stores really are a one-stop shop for all printing and office
needs

Neil Harris, who runs a Smart Cartridge Franchise in Arklow, said: : Smart
Cartridge offers the perfect franchise package when it comes to business
opportunities, with a first class business model, excellent branding and
high quality products plus comprehensive marketing and technical support.
Head office is very forward thinking and innovative.

He added: The training and support given by Smart Cartridge ink refill franchiseis second to
none and is there from the outset throughout the duration of any franchise
agreement. Head Office is always on hand with expert advice on every aspect
of the business - from the initial training, store layout and set up to the
daily running of the business covering such as cartridge refilling advice,
accounts, sales and marketing support. It truly is the perfect package for
anyone thinking of taking a new direction.