Colin and Eileen Harms were featured in a Guardian piece about spouses running a business together.
Cartridge World in Strood, Kent
The Guardian article focuses on whether small businesses run by spouses can succeed, and what issues they might face, with Cartridge World franchisees Colin and Eileen Harms interviewed about their work-life relationships.
The couple own Cartridge World in Strood, Kent, which they started 10 years ago, and have since opened further stores in their franchise in Canterbury, Maidstone and Sittingbourne, with 16 full-time employees now working for them across the four separate sites.
Interviewed by the newspaper as to how their working and domestic relationships intersect, Colin Harms noted that “we started the business together and weren’t put off by the prospect of being with each other round the clock”, adding that “we now run several stores and Eileen looks after our telemarketing, we see less of each other during the day than previously”.
Eileen Harms in turn noted that being married “offers them an advantage in business, because “the trust we have for each other […] is essential in business”, with the equal partnership said to help “prevent problems” as opposed to causing them.