From Two-time Olympian to Pirtek Franchisee

Pirtek franchisee, David Entwistle has a lot of experience in making the most of the opportunities presented to him. Born in Maryland and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands since the age of ten, Entwistle started a degree at the University of New Orleans but left before graduating to pursue an opportunity to run a restaurant. With no experience in restaurants or business ownership, Entwistle embraced the challenge and subsequently kick started what would become a 20-plus year career as a business owner in the food industry—he went on to open a food service business, a few grocery stores, and finally a wholesale foods company. In addition to his successes as an entrepreneur, Entwistle also participated in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics (they were two years apart because it was during the stage when the IOC wanted to space out the Summer and Winter games). Known for his athleticism as a hurdler in college, Entwistle was asked at the age of 24 to join the U.S. Virgin Islands bobsled team in 1988 as the brakeman. Although they did not win a medal, Entwistle was fortunate to have participated in two Olympics, trained with the U.S. bobsled team, and became acquainted with Prince Albert of Monaco. By 2003 Entwistle had sold all of his businesses and returned with his family to Maryland, continuing his tenure in the food services industry. However, over the course of his time working for others within the food services industry, Entwistle came to the realization that he did not care for the industry or the idea of not being his own boss. It was his sister, who is friends with one of the Pirtek USA owners, Morgan Arundel, who brought the franchise to Entwistle's attention. After visiting the franchise in Florida, attending a discovery day, and researching the brand's potential in the DC Metro Area, Entwistle decided to get on board with the international brand. He has since experienced significant growth and success since taking on the new opportunity. "We will be adding a fourth van next month, which is unusual seeing as we are only five months old. My area is quite big—with over 8.5 million people—so with the geographical configuration of the territory, I need to have vans positioned so we can get to the customer within an hour," Entwistle said. With already around 600 clients on the database, Entwistle is looking forward to reaching even more customers in the future. He hopes to have three centers in the DC area, with a second location open within two years.