John Francis

Universal Marquees Ltd. is a specialist marquee hire company, based in Taunton, providing state of the art marquees and accessories for hire throughout the South West. The company was established by John Francis, Somerset County Cricketer, and Greg Durston, brother of Wes Durston, also of Somerset CCC.

With a high interest in business and after attending many PCA Business Courses, John undertook the challenge of setting up his own company along with Greg. John says “I have got many aspirations, and one of them has always been to set up my own business. I found a niche in the market locally that needed filling, and I believe that we can provide a professional and friendly service that can satisfy the demand”.

Universal Marquees went live on January 15th and since then the response has been fantastic. Now established, Universal Marquees has expanded with John’s brother Simon Francis, formerly of Somerset CCC, joining the company as sales and marketing director.

When asked whether cricket and business can go hand in hand John replied, “I strongly believe that nowadays cricketers are able to have a business as well as play cricket. Cricket is an extremely popular sport, creating a stream of potential contacts. The skills that you gain from cricket can be transferred into your venture. Along with the support of friends, family and the PCA there are endless possibilities in the business world. All you have to do is go out there and get it.”