How a Plumber swapped a life of S-Bends and Sinks for Gutters and now runs a booming national franchise

3rd June 2009

Download Media Release (PDF, 592KB)

Warren Ballantyne worked for many years as a plumber in Queensland where cleaning gutters was part of his daily job. A simple idea to specialise and meet the demand for large scale gutter cleaning requests flourished into a successful business concept. Warren identified the need for a custom designed wet/dry gutter vacuum and set about to create his niche service product Gutter-Vac.

Specialising in business is key, and in this case it transformed a humble plumber into a national franchise owner. The first five years of its operation were devoted to developing superior systems, procedures and marketing strategies.

The initial market response to the Gutter-Vac service was overwhelming. It was due to this enthusiastic market reaction that Warren decided to franchise the Gutter-Vac system and all of its procedures.

Gutter-Vac sold its first franchise on the Sunshine Coast in 2000. Gutter-Vac is now Australia-wide and has over 36 franchises. Warren has had 30 years business experience and has for the past 10 years been involved in the franchise sector. Mr Ballantyne and Gutter-Vac are committed to providing the community with a home services franchise that is sustainable and easy to grow, with a successful support system in place for franchisees.

Gutter-Vac machinery is; custom designed and built specifically for cleaning gutters, ceiling cavities and rainwater tanks. The system is reliable, efficient and Australian designed and made.

Managing Director of Gutter-Vac Mr Warren Ballantyne says "The edge we have on the market is our safety equipment Ballantyne Safety. We developed it specifically for roof safety. We know that our franchisees not only have the best equipment to complete the tasks at hand, but most importantly we know they are safe."

Gutter-Vac has 36 franchises located across five states in Australia. The company prides itself on its custom designed safety equipment, comprehensive training program for franchisees.

CONTACT: Warren Ballantyne Managing Director of Gutter-Vac warren@guttervac.com.au
MEDIA CONTACT: Peta Ellis Red Carpet Projects
E: peta@redcarpetprojects.com.au Ph 0738558852