A franchise story that ends the way too many do
The companies behind the Candoo cleaning and gardening brands, Candoo Crew Ltd and Candoo Franchising Ltd, have been placed into liquidation with Adam Botterill of Waterstone Insolvency appointed. That is the tidy corporate ending. The messy human middle is a dozen former franchisees who paid sign-up fees, some in the tens of thousands, chasing promised work that never showed up.
Founded roughly two years ago by New Zealander Allias Grindrod and Australian James McGovern, Candoo sold a familiar pitch. McGovern, who calls himself the company’s head of growth, claimed the brands had hit “$1M+ in annual revenue” and “signed 50+ franchisees nationwide” in…