The internally funded deal was completed in May, with details coming to light now following the completion of the new owner’s tour of the majority of Kall Kwik’s 32 centres.
Kall Kwik has been in business since 1979 and through its centres it offers print, design, and other business services to local communities.
It has now joined the XplorerGroup’s growing portfolio of brands, including fast-growing global children’s computing education brand ComputerXplorers; new children’s multi-sport education franchise ActiveXplorers; and next-generation lead management system Discover My Franchise.
XplorerGroup CEO Stuart Harley said: “Kall Kwik is a popular, established brand in the world of print and digital and has already proved itself adept at adapting to changing community and business requirements by expanding its offering from printing services to a one-stop design, print and online solution for businesses.
“We believe Kall Kwik has an exciting future at XplorerGroup, where we can use our knowledge of technology and digital combined with our franchising experience to continue the brand’s success and really bring to fruition its huge potential in the digital space.”
Speaking to Printweek today (18 September), he added: “We wanted to speak to the network in person and introduce ourselves. I’ve been able to do a bit of homework in between [the completion of the deal and now] and really get underneath what was happening behind the scenes.
“I started five years ago as a franchisee of Nigel [Toplis, managing director of The Bardon Group], with the ComputerXplorers brand, in November 2019 and ended up taking over ComputerXplorers in 2021. That then grew massively – by 750% comfortably.
“Nigel is now on his retirement journey and I could just see this huge opportunity with Kall Kwik – it’s an amazing brand. And after meeting all of the people on the way round, it’s clear that they care so much and they are so creative with the solutions they make.”
Kall Kwik’s name and branding will be retained, because, as Harley added, “it’s a high street name that just about everyone has heard of”.
Toplis, who has been with Kall Kwik for around 30 years, will stay on as non-executive chairman for the next five years, supporting XplorerGroup with his “wealth of print industry knowledge”, according to Harley, who added: “For me, it’s amazing to keep Nigel around”.
Toplis commented: “Kall Kwik is an iconic brand with 45 years of history, success and numerous awards. It is a brand to be proud of.”
Speaking to Printweek today, Toplis added: “It was never my intention to sell the business. Kall Kwik is part and parcel of my blood - I learnt my franchising from Kall Kwik and I have a very close relationship with a lot of the franchisees going back 30 years. But there's no doubt that I'm taking more and more time out of the UK and spending it in South Africa, and I've known Stuart for some time; he's done a very good job and I think he's very trustworthy.
“It seemed like the right thing to do in that it was time to hand the baton over. I do think that with these sorts of businesses particularly, it's about someone carrying the baton for a period of time and then passing it to somebody else who has new energy, new ideas and new initiatives.
“But, as I said to all of the centre owners we recently visited, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going to be a non-executive chairman as opposed to a managing director. I will still be contacting my centre owners on a regular basis, either by phone or by Zoom, and when I come to the UK every few months I will certainly be visiting my centre owners. So I will still be involved, just not on the day-to-day stuff that Stuart will be. The two words I would use for this are relationships and continuity.”
XplorerGroup plans to focus on the existing Kall Kwik centres and support their owners and will then look to open new locations down the line.
“Early next year I think the plan will be to relaunch the proposition in a slightly evolved format,” said Harley, who added the company was doing its homework on where potential new locations could be.
“There are so many towns and cities across the country that this brand can work in; it’s amazing for freelancers and people that work from home who need access to the kind of services that Kall Kwik provides.”
The XplorerGroup now boasts a total of 102 franchisees across its various brands. The group employs eight people as part of its head office team.
Harley said around 130 people work across the 32 Kall Kwik centres, with an average of four people per site. Kall Kwik's network turnover is around £11.5m to £12m.
