Le Mat’s Social franchising

Our franching concept has been developed during a transnational Equal project called “Le Mat – decent work through social economy” during the years 2001-2005.
Le Mat sees franchising as a method for the attainment of entrepreneurial growth, even on the part of social enterprises. Franchising is founded on a network and the possession of specific skills, a trademark and a tried and tested programme. It thus has the features required for the transfer of constructive practices to new places and new players.
Le Mat considers the hotel sector one whose entrepreneurship is particularly suitable for the creation of employment, a career and independence for persons with a history of disability, mental illness or social deprivation.
A hotel is (or should be) a welcoming enterprise. No one better than persons who have been the subject of discrimination and exclusion understands the need for a good reception: these persons, therefore, will be better suited than anyone else to contribute towards the establishment of the quality of a reception enterprise.
Le Mat - the hotel franchising of social entrepreneurs - has discerned, in the running of welcoming hotels, a promising way of creating stable, good quality and well-paid jobs. We think that persons who, because of a disability, a mental disorder or their distressed circumstances, have been discriminated against and excluded, can be important actors in a responsible tourism. For this reason, enterprises with the Le Mat trademark will very often have as their model (in addition to the workers-owned cooperative) the Italian Type B social cooperatives or the Swedish “Socialt företag”, for definition in Swedish see www.socialaforetag.nu.

Le Mat hotel is also intended for those who have developed or are in the process of developing an ecological and social consciousness, and hence are looking for sound biological and integrated services directed to the most proper enjoyment of their environment and its humans, economic and social resources.

Hotels bearing the Le Mat trademark most readily and competently receive guests with special requirements: persons on wheelchairs, those with poor sight or hearing losses or allergies, elderly persons who find it difficult to move and get around, children; all those who are often faced with barriers when they try to get into places or when travelling.

Le Mat’s particular approach to franchising is from the bottom up. We are prosing to replicate a good practice developed by social entrepreneurs. Their know how has been distilled and the replication process could have been experimented under EQUAL. We focused on the hotel sector for several reasons:

- there was one well functioning example of social co-operative managing a hotel – Hotel Tritone in Trieste/Italy
- the Hotel sector is of great importance in the overall development of Italy and the other European countries and in all the less developed areas
- the production schedule of hotel services is carried out through a very close relationship with customers and, consequently, the workers with and without disabilities alike to self-assessment in the way they behave with and treat people. One of the most important need of excluded people is to relate to other people in an empowering process.

The Le Mat social franchise system is the result of a transnational partnership work and an innovative business format which we are still experimenting with the participation of all the members. Our trademark has been registered on European level and we are searching those that would like to participate in developing a European hotel chain managed by social cooperatives.
For further information contact us:
Renate Goergen renate@lemat.coop
Pernilla Svebo Lindgren pernilla@lemat.coop

And download the following documents:
- The Brochure Social franchising
- The Brochure Le Mat
- For more European documents click here