Franchise stars announced at Franchising Awards

The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) honoured franchising’s best in Sydney on Friday night at the FCA NSW/ACT Excellence in Franchising Awards for 2014.

Held at Four Points by Sheraton winners at the event included Anthony and Isla Kaye from Bakers Delight who took home the Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year award, Benjamin Curran from Mister Minit who was awarded Franchisee of the Year, less than two staff, and Danika Heslop from Jamaica Blue who was recognised as Field Manager of the Year.

Other winners included Anthony Hamod from Fastway Couriers who was awarded the Franchisee of the Year, two or more staff accolade for the second year in a row, Franchise Woman of the Year, Tina Tower from Begin Bright and Mick and Patty Fuller who took out the award for Franchisee Community Responsibility and Contribution for Bakers Delight.

Anthony from Fastway Couriers who won the national award in 2013 said the awards process had been a fantastic opportunity to take a top line view of his business.

“The submission process is a great way to review your business performance overall. Obviously we compare performance year on year, but going through the submission process gives you that big picture in all aspects of the business including community involvement,” he said.

Field Manager of the Year and former Chef, Danika Heslop said the best thing about working with Jamaica Blue franchisees was the opportunity to add value to staff members through training.

“Unlike Chefs in the kitchen, they really look out for our training. It’s about their career, so being able to build that skill level for them is something quite special,” she said.

Training was a recurring theme on the night, with Multi-Unit winners Anthony and Isla Kaye recently becoming preferred trainers in the Bakers Delight network.

“Not only do we get to help train new franchisees coming into the network, but we get to review the most up to date network operations. It really made us self reflect and has ultimately been very beneficial for our own business,” the couple said.

Franchise Woman of the Year Tina Tower, who has only been franchising her business since 2011, said she chose the franchise model so she could leverage what others could achieve to grow the brand.

“…being in franchising is a win-win situation, where it helps us reach our end result, which is to reach as many children as possible with our Begin Bright program and at the same time give financial independence and empowerment to all our franchisees all over the country,” she said.

Following their success, all winners have qualified as finalists for the MYOB FCA National Excellence in Franchising Awards. The Gala Dinner will be held at Allphones Arena in Sydney on Tuesday 28 October at the culmination of the National Franchise Convention.

WINNERS

Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year – Anthony and Isla Kaye, Bakers Delight Marketown & Thornton

Franchisee of the Year, two or more staff – Anthony Hamod, Fastway Couriers, Wollongong

Franchisee of the Year, less than two staff – Benjamin Curran, Mister Minit, Crown Central

Franchise Woman of the Year – Tina Tower, Begin Bright

Field Manager of the Year – Danika Heslop, Jamaica Blue

Franchisee Community Responsibility and Contribution – Mick and Patty Fuller, Bakers Delight, Fig Tree & Shellharbour