Rocking Across the Pond: School of Rock Finalizes UK Master Franchise Agreement

At the intersection of legendary music and franchising prowess comes School of Rock’s latest international expansion milestone with a new master franchise agreement now finalized for the United Kingdom. The global leader in performance-based music education announced today that this deal to develop 30 new schools across the UK over the next 11 years was awarded to Matias Puga-Hamilton, the Latin American master franchisee behind School of Rock’s successful expansion across Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, and Ecuador. 

Highly regarded in the franchising world as a 2023 recipient of the International Franchise Association’s prestigious Franchisee of the Year Award, Puga-Hamilton’s passion for the School of Rock brand is reflected in his continued investment in its global expansion. Just months before finalizing this UK agreement, Puga-Hamilton also expanded his master franchise agreement for Latin America to effectively double his portfolio there. 

“Music is an international language that has the power to positively change lives no matter where you're from. The powerful transformation School of Rock inspired in my daughters when they were enrolled as students is what drove me to bring this concept to my home country of Chile in the first place, and I’ve since had the honor of witnessing that impact on an increasingly global scale,” said Puga-Hamilton. “I’m eager to continue making a difference, and what better place to do so next than in the birthplace of so much of the music that we celebrate and use to educate our students around the world to this day?”

The first School of Rock under this UK agreement is targeted to open in early 2025 in London, home of musical icons including The Rolling Stones, Queen, Coldplay and many more. The UK schools will join School of Rock’s current European footprint consisting of five schools open and operating across Spain, Portugal and Ireland.

Between School of Rock’s European success thus far and Puga-Hamilton’s reputation for driving high enrollment numbers, School of Rock anticipates a positive response to its arrival in the UK. Residents of communities spanning England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can look forward to soon having a new center for inspiring and engaging music lessons, which include bass lessons, guitar lessons, singing lessons, drum lessons and piano lessons. School of Rock’s performance-based music education program draws from all styles of rock and roll while also teaching music theory and techniques to students through popular songs from various diverse and legendary artists. 

“Continued international expansion is of the utmost importance to School of Rock as we seek to create more spaces for learning, confidence and self-expression as a means for enriching the lives of students and communities around the world. Matias has played a tremendous part in our international expansion journey, having opened his first location in 2015 to now managing 16 schools across nine countries and growing,” said Anthony Padulo, Chief Development Officer of School of Rock. “Matias knows firsthand what the School of Rock program is capable of providing to students and new communities, and he truly embodies the passion and zeal it takes to share our mission. Our European presence in the UK is a major milestone in this ongoing initiative, and we couldn’t be happier to have Matias and his experienced team as our partners in this endeavor.”