The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) honoured franchising’s best in Queensland on Friday night at the FCA Qld/NT Excellence in Franchising Awards for 2014.
Held at the Hilton in Brisbane, winners at the event included April & Tony Carnie and Nicki Nesbitt & Wiesiek Lewandowski from Shingle Inn who took home the Franchisee of the Year, two or more staff award, Maria & Wayne Varkevisser from Pack & Send who were awarded Franchisee of the Year, less than two staff and Andrew Kidd from Poolwerx who was announced Field Manager of the Year.
Other winners included Ann and Graham Thatcher from Ella Bache who were awarded the Multi-unit Franchisee of the Year accolade, Franchise Woman of the Year, Sharon Jurd of Hydrokleen and David Price from Cairns who took out the award for Franchisee Community Responsibility and Contribution for Grill’d.
Maria and Wayne, originally from South Africa, said they sought out a franchise opportunity when they arrived in Australia as they knew it would be their best chance at success.
“Coming into Australia from another country, from the very beginning, we knew we had to be in a franchise. The model is done, the site is chosen, the customers know you, everything works. Having the Pack & Send system behind us gave us the confidence that we could actually do business in Australia,” they said.
Franchise Woman of the Year, Sharon Jurd sees real benefit in participating in the Australian franchise sector on a community level and believes that has helped her succeed.
“I think the benefit of the Australian franchising community is that it brings people under the same banner… I think both men and women are embraced in the Australian franchising community. I’ve found that to be extremely beneficial as a female franchisor. I’ve found it a great community to be a part of and I’m really excited by what’s happening in the industry,” she said.
Multi-Unit franchisee of the Year, Ann and Graham Thatcher, who own and run five Ella Bache salons in Brisbane, said assessing their business outside their own network had been an incredibly positive exercise.
We’ve been with Ella Bache for more than 10 years and we’ve been fortunate enough to win some awards within the network. This awards process has been an opportunity to test ourselves against the wider business community. It’s really nice to know, through winning the award that we’re on the right track with our business,” the couple said.
Following their success, all winners have all 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
Ann and Graham Thatcher, Ella Bache
Franchisee of the Year, two or more staff
April & Tony Carnie and Nicki Nesbitt & Wiesiek Lewandowski Shingle Inn – Mt Ommaney
Franchisee of the Year, less than two staff
Maria & Wayne Varkevisser, Pack & Send Chermside
Franchise Woman of the Year
Sharon Jurd, Hydrokleen
Field Manager of the Year
Andrew Kidd, Poolwerx
Franchisee Community Responsibility and Contribution
David Price, Grill’d Cairns