Poolwerx celebrates two top franchising awards!
Providing support was the winning criteria behind two recent awards presented to Poolwerx at the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) QLD/NT Excellence in Franchising Awards.
Owner of Poolwerx Ashgrove/Keperra, Michelle Graham, was named the QLD/NT Franchise Woman of the Year, while Business Development Manager, Steve Halls, beat out stiff competition to win the QLD/NT Field Manager of the Year Award.
Mrs Graham, who has a long history in the pool industry, having operated Poolwerx Ashgrove/Keperra with her husband Tony for 15 years, said the systems and structure within the Poolwerx network, as well as a culture of inclusiveness, had helped her achieve her business goals.
“Franchising gives you a structure that I don’t think you would find in any normal business,” she said. “We’ve been with Poolwerx for a long time and they have provided guidance and systems support, which has been massive for running our own business and achieving our goals.”
Mrs Graham is a member of two internal Poolwerx advisory councils and is a mentor and advocate for women throughout the Poolwerx franchise network.
“I always advise women looking to start a business within the Poolwerx network or those having just started their Poolwerx business that there is a lot of support for women in the industry, both amongst pool business owners and pool equipment and product suppliers,” Mrs Graham said.
Mr Halls has been in the franchise industry for over 17 years, both as a franchisee and in senior Business Development roles within the industry and said the award validated Poolwerx’s core values of putting people first and providing the highest level of mentoring and support to Franchise Partners.
“It’s great to be able to showcase the Poolwerx brand, because if it wasn’t for the brand, the leadership and the great team, I probably wouldn’t have received this award,” he said.
Last year, Mr Hall helped his QLD Poolwerx Franchise Partners achieve the highest increase in sales nationally across the Poolwerx network and he was recently promoted to the role of National Franchise Operations Manager for Poolwerx.
CEO and founder of Poolwerx, John O’Brien, said both Michelle and Steve were worthy winners of the awards and had contributed significantly to Poolwerx’ success.
“People like Steve play an important role in helping our Franchise Partners understand their business aspirations and helping them achieve their dreams as business owners,” Mr O’Brien said. “As well as achieving significant growth for his region, Steve has implemented a number of innovations locally that were so successful they’ve now been rolled out nationwide,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Michelle is a valued mentor to Franchise Partners throughout our network and also contributes by sitting on several internal advisory boards,” he said. “Her knowledge, experience and mentorship has assisted other Franchise Partners to realise their goals of expansion and continued business success and her advice has helped us shape our system.”
Both Michelle and Steve will now compete in the national awards in October.