James Francis Zockoll (14 February 1930 – 25 January 2024) was an American-born pilot and businessman who pioneered

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

in the United Kingdom, founding the

Dyno-Rod Dyno-Rod is an emergency drainage and plumbing company operating in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1963 as Dyno-Rod, Dyno initially specialised in the use of electromechanical machines for drain clearance. Since then, the company has grown consid ...

drain repair business in 1963.

Early life

The youngest of Fred and Margaret Zockoll's six children, Jim Zockoll was born and grew up in North Braddock near

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He graduated from Scott High School in 1949 and immediately joined the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, where he served as an aircraft mechanic crew chief in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Following service, Zockoll returned to the US and attended the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics to expand his mechanical skills and obtain his Aircraft and Engine license. He also enrolled in flying school. In 1955, he got a job as a flight engineer with

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

(Pan Am), working on DC6 and DC7 aircraft. When Pan Am introduced

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

s in the late 1950s, engineers were no longer needed on every flight. Feeling his job was insecure, Zockoll began a couple of sidelines: he invested in rental properties on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and started a small drain-cleaning business.

Franchising career

In December 1963, during a crew stopover at The Kensington Gardens Hotel in London, the hotel's manager had a problem with blocked drains under the hotel's ballroom that would need a lengthy repair at a cost of 40,000 guineas (equivalent to £1m in 2024). Zockoll flew back to the US to get his electro-mechanical drain-cleaning machine – equipment which was unknown in the UK – and cleared it in 20 minutes. Zockoll spotted a business opportunity, moved his family to London and, with support from his father-in-law and the hotel's plumber, founded

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

-based

. Zockoll used a

model – also then unknown in the UK – to expand the business. It was the UK’s first non-fast food franchising business. Franchisees paid a fee and up to 30% of sales revenue for the franchise, equipment, van and advertising. Zockoll also introduced further US franchises into the UK, and in 1977, Dyno-Rod became the founding member of the British Franchise Association (BFA). The company's experience helped to lay the foundation of good practice for the industry and encouraged other franchises to join. During this time Zockoll continued working as a pilot for Pan Am, enjoying the security and glamour of flying. He told ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'': "I am also a restless soul. I just could not stay here and do the day-to-day running of the business. Flying enables me to get around Europe and think up and develop ideas.” In 1983, he took early retirement from the airline to focus on his expanding business. By July 2004, Dyno-Rod had around 167 franchises, including emergency plumbing, locksmith services (Dyno-Lock), pest control (Dyno-Kil) and burglary repairs (Dyno-Secure), and a turnover of £60m. The parent group, Dyno Group, started to plan an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

worth up to £50m ($92.8m) to fund a £60.5m buy-out of the business from Zockoll. However, in October 2004, Zockoll sold Dyno-Rod to

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

, the owner of

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

, for £57.6 million. Talking about the sale, Zockoll told ''The Times'': Zockoll became a British citizen in 2017. He continued working as chairman of the Zockoll Group, his franchising and licensing business, up until his death in 2024.

Personal life and death

Zockoll died on 25 January 2024, at the age of 93. He was survived by his wife Ann, who he had met in England, and sons Steven and Jim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zockoll, Jim 1930 births 2024 deaths Franchising People from North Braddock, Pennsylvania