Metro Rod marks 40 years in business with 40,000 meal donation

Own a Proven, High-Growth UK Drainage & Waste Services Franchise - Step into a Multi-Vehicle Business with National Accounts, Strong Support and Outstanding Earnings Potential.

Built for Career Professionals Ready to Lead & Scale

After a successful career, you’re ready for a new challenge. You have the ambition and the operational mindset, now you want a business you can lead, grow and scale. With Metro Rod, you’re not starting from scratch, you’re acquiring a business backed by an established brand, major national contracts, and membership of an international franchise group with strong results.

The Group’s system-sales were £418.5 m in 2024 (up 20% from 2023).
Adjusted EBITDA was £35.1 m (up 16% from 2023).
The maximum potential model for the Water & Waste Services division (which includes Metro Rod) shows a target of £2.1 bn system sales.

This isn’t a solo “start-small” franchise. Metro Rod offers the chance to take on a multiple-van, multiple-engineer fleet business, managing teams, contracts and growth strategy. If you’ve already built a career and want to step into ownership and leadership, this is the perfect transition.

A Resilient, High-Demand Essential Services Sector

Metro Rod operates at the heart of an essential, high-demand sector: drainage maintenance, repair and wastewater management for commercial, industrial and retail environments. From unblocking and cleaning to CCTV surveys, pump station maintenance, grease management, tanker operations and planned preventative maintenance, our services keep the UK’s facilities functioning safely and compliantly, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Every building, every business and every home need reliable drainage support. That means stable, recurring demand, long-term maintenance contracts and continuous opportunities to grow. Metro Rod’s financial performance reflects the strength of these essential services and the scale of the market we operate in.

As a Metro Rod franchisee, you benefit from:

Recurring commercial maintenance work from national and regional clients
Emergency callouts that drive consistent revenue
Planned maintenance programmes that create predictable pipelines
Specialist services such as CCTV surveying and tanker operations that deliver strong margins
Opportunities to scale through additional engineers, vehicles and service lines within drainage

This is a sector with long-term security, operational resilience and a clear pathway for ambitious owners to expand and build a significant business.

Clear Market & Big Opportunity

The drainage, maintenance and repair services sector is large, fragmented and under-served, creating a genuine runway of opportunity.

With this backdrop, as a franchisee of Metro Rod you’re positioned in a sector that is essential, recurrent, and primed for scaling. That means a business model that can deliver strong recurring maintenance contracts, multiple service lines, and the ability to grow by adding vans, engineers and additional services.

A Thriving UK Network with Unmatched Support & Room to Grow

When you join Metro Rod, you’re stepping into a true network, not just a franchise. Across the UK, 43 franchise territories are already operated by committed business owners, each running a thriving drainage service with multiple engineers, vehicles and commercial clients. You become part of a community of likeminded owners who share best practice, support each other and collectively deliver a trusted, nationwide service.

But your support network doesn’t stop there. As Metro Rod is part of Franchise Brands plc, an international multi-brand franchise group.

This gives you access to:

Group-wide expertise and resources: Central marketing, technology platforms, management systems and operational support designed to help you scale efficiently.
Major national account relationships: Large commercial customers who rely on Metro Rod across multiple locations, providing a significant source of recurring work.
A wider network of 600+ franchisees: Across the UK and internationally, spanning multiple brands in the Water, Waste & Service sectors.
A scalable business model: Add more vans, hire more engineers, expand into adjacent service lines, or explore multi-territory or even multi-brand ownership.Your growth potential is limited only by your ambition.

Joining Metro Rod means stepping into a proven, high-performing UK network, with the weight, capability and opportunity of a global franchise group behind you.

What We’re Looking For – And What You Get in Return

What We Need from You

We’re looking for an owner who can lead a serious business, not just buy a job.

You’ll bring:

Capital to invest: The funds or access to funding to purchase the franchise (or resale), plus working capital to support growth.
Proven professional experience: You’re comfortable with budgets, performance targets and managing people. You don’t need drainage experience – you do need commercial acumen.
A leadership mindset: You want to build and lead a team of engineers and support staff, set standards, and drive performance.
Ambition to scale: You’re not content standing still. You’re interested in adding vans, engineers and service lines as the business grows.
Commitment to our systems and standards: You’re happy to follow proven processes, reporting, health & safety requirements and national account service levels that protect the brand and your investment.

What You Can Expect from Us

In return, we give you everything you need to take over, perform and grow:

A recognised, trusted UK brand: Decades of market presence, a strong reputation and national coverage behind your local operation.
Access to national and regional commercial work: Opportunities from national accounts and larger commercial customers, alongside your own local clients.
Comprehensive training and onboarding: Technical training, operational know-how, systems training and business setup support – so you can lead the business confidently, even if drainage is new to you.
Proven systems and infrastructure: Established frameworks for routing and scheduling vans, managing a mobile workforce, CRM, job management, invoicing and customer service.
Ongoing support and development: Regular input from head office specialists in operations, marketing and business development, plus peer support from the wider Metro Rod network.
A clear platform for growthSupport to help you increase fleet size, grow your team, deepen relationships with existing clients, win new contracts and, if you choose, explore multi-territory or multi-brand opportunities within the wider group.

Next Steps

If you’re ready to explore this opportunity:

Download our Information Pack: Via the “Request Info” link
Book a Discovery Call: Let’s talk about your background, territory options, investment requirements and growth path.
Hand-Pick Your Territory & Business Plan: Work with Metro Rod to map your first 12-24 months growth and milestones.

If you’re ready to take control, scale and build something lasting, let’s talk.

Metro Rod marks 40 years in business with 40,000 meal donation

February 15, 2024

To mark the donation, staff from the company’s Cheshire-based Support Centre spent a day volunteering at the charity’s Greater Manchester warehouse last month. They joined warehouse volunteers to sort and pack fresh produce and other items to be distributed to local charities.

FareShare works with the food industry to take good-to-eat surplus food, which might otherwise go to waste, and redistribute it to a network of 8,500 charities and community groups across the UK.

Part of the multi-brand franchise business, Franchise Brands, Metro Rod was established in Cheshire 40 years ago. At the time, the company provided basic drainage services. It was acquired by Franchise Brands in 2017.

Metro Rod now has a 42-strong franchise network offering a range of sophisticated drainage, tanker, and sewage pump services and has a £70m+ turnover. Their plumbing arm, Metro Plumb, also boasts 19 franchises (and growing) providing a same-day emergency and routine plumbing service.

Speaking about the anniversary, Peter Molloy, Managing Director of Metro Rod and Franchise Brand’s Water and Waste Division, “We are extremely proud to have completed our fortieth year in business, a significant milestone which bears testament to our expertise and strong service culture.

“This could not have been achieved without the hard work and commitment of our franchise owners and our expert Support Centre team.

“We wanted to give something back to the communities in which we operate to celebrate this business achievement. FareShare do amazing work redistributing surplus food and drink to vulnerable people each year across the UK. We are all delighted to be able to support them with this donation of 40,000 meals.”

Gemma Viner, Corporate Partnerships Officer at FareShare commented, “We are so grateful to everyone at Metro Rod for their incredible support, both in their time spent volunteering at our Greater Manchester warehouse and the donation of 40,000 meals.

“This will help make a huge difference to helping us get good-to-eat surplus food to people who need it most, across our network of 8,500 charities and community groups across the UK. These organisations work to tackle the root causes of poverty, offering essential services and using food to help strengthen communities and reduce isolation.”

Metro Rod Ltd Success Stories

Metro Rod Ltd Testimonials

Tracey was my first contact when I enquired about a Metro Rod resale opportunity. She obviously knew her stuff, was easy to talk to and made what was a huge personal decision so much easier as a result. I always felt Tracey made every effort to make the process & negotiations as transparent as possible and was great help when coordinating the all the parties involved in the sale.

Daniel Rhodes, Managing Director (Metro Rod (South Yorkshire))

The best thing we ever did was invest in tankers. It has opened so much work: septic tanks, soakaways, interceptors, jetting and crawlering which then leads to adoption work with the water authorities.

Adrian Taylor Metro Rod Franchise Owner

I came to Metro Rod with no experience in drainage back in 2014, but I learned everything I needed from the team and, combined with lots of on-the-job experience, I am now a qualified engineer. I love working with the team here at Mid Wales; we’re like a family. We work hard, always do that little bit extra for the customer and above all else, I know my work is valued.

Tom Emberton Metro Rod Engineer

I’ve been with Metro Rod for 4 years as the Operations Manager. Everything we do here is a team effort, and whether it is in the office or out in the field, our customer service always comes first. The thing I like most is that we’re a close-knit team, and we’re flexible, so try to ensure everyone has a happy work-life balance.

Daley Jones Operations Manager (Metro Rod Mid Wales)

My wife and I have been running Metro Rod (Norwich) since 2001, and over that time have built up a strong and loyal client base.

Shaun O’Brian (Metro Rod franchisee (Norwich))

I love what I do and am proud of what I have achieved – I am thankful to my team and Metro Rod for the support that they have given to me. Although I do a great deal of local marketing, I get guaranteed work from Metro Rod with their National Accounts. Metro Rod also looks after all my invoicing and I have a very low level of debt due to their credit control service and my personal efforts. The support of a franchisor and franchise network would be difficult to match on my own!