The Leading Art Education Franchise

Inspiring Creativity Nationwide

Turn Your Passion for Art into a Purposeful Career

Teaching art is incredibly rewarding. Witnessing the positive impact on young lives (and adults) and equipping them with lifelong skills is truly fulfilling. Many art teachers, or aspiring art teachers, are individuals who go above and beyond to nurture the talent in their students. They are gratified by witnessing their students’ growth in confidence.

The reason we offer franchising is our firm belief in the transformative power of art and our desire to expand its accessibility in the UK. Through franchising, we can reach more students and broaden access to art education. If you share our passion for teaching art and changing lives, exploring our program and business model could also transform your life.

For over 20 years, art-K has been developing and continuously refining its art skills syllabus. In the last 8 years, we have honed our modes of operation, resulting in a successful and profitable network of 50 clubs across the UK.

art-K puts child safeguarding first, as such, all franchisees will undergo voluntary registration with Ofsted. This voluntary registration for extra-curricular activities ensures that stringent procedures and processes are in place to protect students. While the registration process may seem onerous, art-K understands the necessary requirements to meet this gold standard of reassurance for our customers.

We are currently seeking franchises outside the M25, as we have already established a strong presence within this region. Outside the M25, we have observed that self-managed units demonstrate better adaptability to their local communities compared to directly-owned branches.

This opportunity to pursue what you do best and have a rewarding career requires you to have the courage to invest in yourself. Prior to making any commitments, ample evidence is available in the public domain for you to conduct thorough due diligence. You may visit our Trustpilot site to see the positive feedback and appreciation expressed by our customers for art-K’s services and the warm welcome extended by our studios and teachers. Additionally, annual reports are accessible online through Companies House, providing insight into the trading history and longevity of individual studios.

So what’s next?

Making the decision to transition to running your own business is significant, but you’ve already begun with small steps and no obligations. If you’re interested in learning more, please fill out the form to speak with our franchise consultant. While running your own business may not be suitable for everyone, at the core of art-K lies the passion for teaching art, particularly through our art-K program, and going the extra mile. If this aligns with your strengths, everything else becomes mechanical in achieving the business’s objectives, and we provide assistance every step of the way.

Following this initial step, you can join us for a discovery day, interact with other art-K franchisees, and gain further reassurance that our business model is effective – all before any commitments or decisions are made.

Once you are confident in your decision and have convinced yourself that it is feasible, investing in yourself will only unlock your full potential! 

Location: We have franchise opportunities available across the UK, with a focus on expanding our network outside the M25. Territories are available particularly in the Midlands, East Midlands, North, and Northwest.

2000
Kathryn starts the first art studio (called Arty Club for Crafty Kids)
2014
First exploratory discussions about franchising
Kathryn starts creating a flow of projects by age
2016
Emily & Kathryn partner up; art-K Ltd formed
First franchises are launched by people close to the ethos of art-K:
Ewell - an existing art assistant from Kathryn’s studio

Tadworth – an existing parent of a student
2017
First franchisees launched with no previous connection:
Northwood, Tring, and Worthing
2017
First directly-owned studio is launched: Wimbledon
2018
art-K teaches 1000 students a week
2018
First art-K pupil graduates from University and joins to run a directly-owned studio
2019
art-K are the Winners of CVC’s Young Innovators Award
2020
Studios voluntarily register with Ofsted - Childcare vouchers received
Holiday workshops expanded to run the whole day
2020
First central support staff engaged
2021
3000 students a week
- 22 Direct studios
- 11 Franchises
2021
GCSE programme launched
2022
Children’s programme is revised and expanded
2022
New art-K booking software configured and launched to automate processes
2023
Trustpilot launched to verify reviews
2023
6000 students
- 39 Direct Branches
- 12 Franchises
5 central support staff members
2023
First network-wide summer exhibition at Peckham Levels
2023
Contributed 50 artists to break the Guinness Book of Records attempt for 250 concurrent portraits painted of Lenny Henry on Sky Arts Portrait of the Year
2024
Childcare payments automated
2024
Split payments automated
2024
Party programme launched and software automated
2024
7000 students
- 41 Direct Braches
- 13 Franchises
12 support staff members
2024
Summer Exhibition at the prestigious OXO Bargehouse on Southbank
2024
art-K Launches new branches: Orpington and Eastbourne
New Franchise: Burgess Hill
2025
art-K Launches new branch: Nottingham

New franchise: Wokingham

2025
Research was conducted by YouGov on behalf of art-K 
2025
Another Summer Art Exhibition at OXO Bargehouse on Southbank in July 2025
2025
With parties thriving, art-K is now offering off-site art events
2025
art-K Launches new franchise: Smithdown

Opened in September 2025, led by Bella, the first former branch manager to open a franchise!

2026
Your future at art‑K

What does a week with an art-K Franchise look like?

  • Minimum 4 after school classes
  • Saturday morning (and optional afternoon) classes
  • Project prep & planning
  • Customer engagement through emails, phone calls and at your studio
  • Implementing the marketing structure to grow your club within the community

art-K provides templates for all areas of the business.

Our Mission

There are over 50 art-K clubs across England and together they teach over 6,000 children a week. This makes us the largest dedicated educator of children’s art skills in the country, and we’re only just getting started. art-K may not be as established as some other well-known institutions, but our website traffic is higher; we’ve been featured on ITV, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Kent, London Post, The Guardian and local news as journalists look for stories and content around art.

As a network, our first ambition is to reach 10,000 children a week under tuition, and as an art-K Franchisee, you would be helping to achieve that milestone and recognition for art.

Why do we want to achieve that number? What will we do with it?

We want to build a professional company that teaches art, and also has all the necessary management support team to cover finance, HR, H&S, Recruitment/Training, Marketing, etc. – so we can provide a teaching environment that dedicated art teachers feel secure and proud to work within.

To securely and viably provide that environment, we are building up 10,000 students a week and providing the best service to ensure word-of-mouth draws more and more students into the joy of learning art skills.

art-K is already building that management team right now; we employ over 60 full time staff (including the art leaders, but excluding Franchisees), so there’s a wealth of support and advice to draw on. In addition to employing those core full time positions, clubs also provide part time and contract assistant positions (currently there’s over 300 assistants contracted) and, as a result, become a pivotal art space for local communities.

We believe in a rounded education, and fine art provides a unique opportunity for children to understand that different people see things differently – and that’s OK. That people from different walks of life and cultures can all find art a fun, experimental, and engaging pastime. From our view, art can and should be part of building a cohesive culture which encourages interest or empathy for different or opposing views. We configure our classes to minimise any sense of competition, which helps keep the environment relaxed and conducive to new ideas and creativity.

At its core, art is about expression and no matter what age students are at, or stage of development, that expression is a photograph of the student’s dexterity and cognitive ability and is a unique point in time and space. Children develop so quickly that these artworks will never be repeated. The art made in our classes might stay on a parent’s walls for all their lives.

With the quantity of students under tuition, we are constantly reviewing the programme with a view to improving all the time. No other art organisation has the quantity or quality of feedback to make these improvements.

Our Franchisees

Ejiro

Barry, South Wales
Franchisee

Jenny

Worthing
Franchisee

Sara

Truro
Franchisee

Stacey

Ewell
Franchisee

Bella

Smithdown, Liverpool
Franchisee

Johan

Letchworth Garden City
Franchisee

Kerrie

Worplesdon
Franchisee

Sam

Wokingham Franchisee

Dan

Cheltenham
Franchisee

Andrea

Cambridge
Franchisee

Aida

Burgess Hill
Franchisee

This could be you!

Sara

Truro
Franchisee

Stacey

Ewell
Franchisee

Bella

Smithdown, Liverpool
Franchisee

Andrea

Cambridge
Franchisee

Johan

Letchworth Garden City
Franchisee

Jenny

Worthing
Franchisee

Kerrie

Worplesdon
Franchisee

Ejiro

Barry, South Wales
Franchisee

Sam

Wokingham Franchisee

Dan

Cheltenham
Franchisee

Aida

Burgess Hill
Franchisee

This could be you!

Want to learn more about this franchise opportunity?

Click the button below and fill in the form to request an art-K franchise prospectus.