Member Article

UK's top franchisees shortlisted for national awards

The finalists have been revealed for the bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year Awards, supported by Express Newspapers. Celebrating stories of business excellence across the length and breadth of the UK, the awards commemorate their 25th anniversary in 2014 with a record number of entrants.

The nominees are notable for their diversity, both geographically and in terms of their business sector: all four constituent countries of the UK are represented, with franchisees from a wide spectrum of brands operating across customer and business service industries. It’s a true reflection of the wealth of opportunities on offer in franchising today.

The awards are split into six categories which will each see a winner crowned, with the top award of bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year 2014 being selected as one of those six. The overall winner will take home £10,000 and each category winner receives £1,000, courtesy of HSBC.

The finalists are:

Customer Service Franchisee of the Year

• Joggy Dhillon, Domino’s Pizza Coleraine & Omagh
• Nathan Holmes, Revive! Cambridge
• Richard McConnell, The ZipYard Altrincham & Wilmslow

Female Franchisee of the Year

• Diane Maxwell, Driver Hire Belfast
• Rachel Shaw, Subway West Wickham & Thornton Heath
• Joyce Batten, Tutor Doctor Bromley

Young Franchisee of the Year (aged 30 or under)

• Aaron Stewart, Marston’s Sheffield
• Phylly Jones, Pyjama Drama North Surrey
• Matthew Woodall, Revive! Bath

Micro-Business Franchisee of the Year (less than £100,000 turnover)

• Tina Young, Barking Mad Northumberland
• Matthew May, Ed’s Garden Maintenance Folkestone
• Andrew smith, Little Kickers South Lancashire

B2B Franchisee of the Year

• Frank Sutherland, Autosmart Aberdeen
• Nick Barber, Minster Cleaning Services Northamptonshire
• Jayne Gethin, ServiceMaster Clean South West Wales

Olderpreneur Franchisee of the Year (aged 55 or older)

• Terry Lucking, Belvoir Lettings Peterborough
• Charles Folkes, Caremark Redcar & Cleveland
• Charles Trevor-Roper, No Letting Go West Berkshire
• Nihal Samarasekara, O2 Hove & surroundings

The bfa’s director general, Brian Smart, said: “The selection process becomes more difficult each time we hold these awards and making this shortlist is a great achievement in itself, particularly this year following an unprecedented number of entries.

“This is a celebration of 19 local business owners from across the UK who have demonstrated outstanding entrepreneurialism, passion and dedication. With the support that ethical franchising brings, they’ve forged extremely impressive businesses. Choosing our winners shall be very difficult indeed.”

Joining regular judges Brian Smart, Cathryn Hayes of HSBC and Sean Hammond of Express Newspapers as this year’s guest judges are Suzie McCafferty, managing director of consultancy Platinum Wave, and Adrian Price of chartered accountants Menzies.

Finalists will present to a judging panel on 16 & 17 July, with winners crowned at a lavish black-tie dinner hosted by Steph McGovern on Thursday 2 October at Birmingham Town Hall.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Stafford .