The Massage Company has awarded a three centre, multi-site franchise agreement to an entrepreneurial husband and wife team.

With their own business in The City of London, Taran & Sophie Bassi closely match the profile of the first stateside franchisee's of the membership-based massage business.

"Sophie and I had been looking for a franchise business and when we heard about The Massage Company we knew straight away it was a unique and interesting business model,” said Taran Bassi.

“I knew if there was one near me then I would use it – which is a criteria we have been using when we looked around what was available. We needed to explore other options but when something this successful comes along, you have to jump in and we understand that we are the first which adds an extra level of excitement and also opportunity. We intend to open our initial three sites as soon as possible, with the plan to open more after that."

The property search is now underway for the couple, with the UK's leading property search agents CBRE who were responsible for the first site in Camberley.

Sites are 2,000-3,000sq ft (18.6-27.9sq m) with 20 to 30 staff who all go through the rigorous TMC Training Academy Programme which guarantees that every customer receives a great massage.

The membership model ensures that the customer receives their massage at an affordable price and at a time that is convenient to them - centres are open 9am to 9pm, 7 days a week.

"We set up this business to franchise across the UK,” said founder and commercial director responsible for franchising, Elliot Walker.

“To have built, opened, successfully traded and awarded our first multi-site franchise agreement within 12 months, demonstrates the speed of rollout that can be achieved when you bring something new to the market. Taran and Sophie are a great example of taking first mover advantage which will pay dividends for them in the years to come."

The Massage Company won two Best New Business Awards, one in Camberley and the second for Surrey in 2016.

As the team develop the UK market, plans are also to bring MBMB to Europe and beyond, with openings likely in the near future.