Australian Franchise News – 01-09-10
Sorrento business owners Ian and Irene Hughes have been recognised as PoolWerx National ‘Franchisee of the Year’ as well as taking home the ‘Western Australia Franchisee of the Year’, ‘Perth North Franchisee of the Year’ and ‘Business-to-Business (B2B) Excellence’ awards.
The couple, who have been operating the business since 2003, rose above 116 PoolWerx franchisees across Australia to take home the national title at the company’s national awards last week.
Ian Hughes said they were overwhelmed by the win.
“Winning the overall ‘Franchisee of the Year’ on its own is such an honour not to mention the other awards,” he said.
“We are ecstatic to have been recognised throughout Australia and New Zealand with this win and we’re very grateful to our hard working team and loyal clients because without them we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
“Our retail stores in Hillarys, Beldon, Joondalup and Currambine have thrived in the past year due to the increased support from the surrounding communities and we are very proud to be able to share our recognition and success with those who have supported us over the years.”
The national B2B award recognises a franchise for developing and maintaining quality relationships with local businesses and commercial clients.
Mr and Mrs Hughes have established strong relationships with local real estate, strata managers, the hospitality sector, insurance companies, retirement villages and local government agencies as well as maintaining the public water features in Perth city. Mr Hughes said it was important for local businesses to support each other.
“We’re very proud of the great commercial relationships we’ve created across all areas of our business and will continue to strive to maintain these into the future as they are pivotal to our success.”
PoolWerx CEO John O’Brien said Ian and Irene were worthy recipients of the awards and ought to be proud of their efforts.
“The National Franchisee of the Year Award is only given to franchisees who have excelled in every single element of their business including customer satisfaction, results-to-plan, sales growth, support of the franchisee system and the PoolWerx brand,” he said.
“The competition was fierce but Ian and Irene stood out in all aspects and thoroughly deserve the win.”