NSW/ACT franchise winners announced

The NSW/ACT franchise community celebrated an outstanding year in business at the NSW/ACT Excellence in Franchising Awards gala dinner at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney on Thursday night (12 Aug). MC for the evening was Mike Ramsay, Director of FCA Alliance Partner Charter Security.

 

The Excellence in Franchising Awards celebrates – both regionally and nationally – the success of hard working Australian small business people in the franchise sector.

 

Tony Zoobi, franchisee with Hairhouse Warehouse, took out the NSW/ACT Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year Award. Tony is the ultimate prototype for the successful franchisee – passionate, dedicated and with business smarts to burn. Having achieved success in 2008 with the NSW/ACT Franchisee of the Year Award, Tony backed himself to take the next step and began a period of growth which now sees him own 6 stores, employing 45 staff. Tony’s high achievements sees new Hairhouse Warehouse franchisees visit his stores for ideas and advice on how to succeed – a true sign of business success and leadership.

 

Leanne & Jeremy Maslen from Bakers Delight Tamworth took out the NSW/ACT Franchisee Community Service Award. Leanne and Jeremy have contributed greatly to many charities and community groups in their area. They initiated the “Help us Raise Some Dough” campaign in Tamworth for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service – with Jeremy riding over 615Km from Glen Innes to Tamworth, raising over $85,000. They also assist with career days and food donations at their local schools, donate their end of day stock to charities and for stockfeed, donate money to the Breast Cancer Network Australia and help the “Friends of Nokia” – a palliative care department at the Tamworth base hospital. In between all this, they manage to run a pretty darn good bakery shop too.

 

Louise Curtis, Founder, Managing Director and Franchisor of Lollypotz (a chocolate bouquet company) took out the NSW/ACT Franchise Woman of the Year Award. Louise’s vision was to establish a business that would not only fill a niche, but be an attractive franchise opportunity for women – particularly those with children at home who have limited opportunities to run a standard format business. And what a whirlwind couple of years it has been for Louise. Not only has she managed to turn Lollypotz into a 28-store strong business, she also managed to pick up two Telstra Business Awards, and at the same time, raise her young family!

 

Barry and Gayle Hill from Autobarn Maitland took out the NSW/ACT Franchisee of the Year – 2 or more staff Award. Autobarn Maitland is a true family business. Not only do Barry and Gayle work hard to make the business a success, Barry’s son Jason is the Store Manager and Barry and Gayle’s 8 year old twins also get involved! Profits have gone from strength to strength in the past 2 years and Barry and Gayle put this down to improved managerial skills, improved customer service, product training and initiating relationships with other local businesses. This all-round business strategy has seen Barry and Gayle’s store increase sales by over $400,000 in the last year alone.

 

Mister Minit franchisee Stephen Jones took out the NSW/ACT Franchisee of the Year – Less than 2 staff Award. Joining the Mister Minit system in November 2008, Stephen has experienced strong growth – 12 to 15 % annually – over the past 2 years due to his unrelenting focus on enhancing customer satisfaction levels through first rate service and disciplined sales staff. This dedication to customer service paid off for Stephen with his shop taking out the “Total Service Satisfaction” Award for the Mister Minit system – this was out of 209 shops – a fantastic effort!

 

Alan Fardon, Field Manager with RAMS Financial Group took out the NSW/ACT Field Manager of the Year Award. Alan is responsible for 22 franchisees and 29 sites at RAMS and is a former franchisee. An example of Alan’s importance to the success of his franchisees is when he helped an average performing franchisee develop an understanding of a new marketing opportunity introduced by RAMS. Alan helped them to establish compliance with legislation and implement new operating systems. Alan’s efforts paid off with the franchisee becoming the national record holder for highest volume of franchisee settlements in a one month period. It is the countless examples of results-driven performance that makes Alan a worthy winner of this award.