The team at Assist With Solutions welcomes ex-City Fund Manager Christina Haemmerli-Schlegell as their latest consultant franchisee.

Christina brings with her a wealth of business and financial experience working in large and multi-national financial institutions over the years. This knowledge and experience will be invaluable to her future clients in the small and medium sized business sector.

Currently undergoing training at Assist With Solutions head office, the company is looking forward to working with Christina in utilising her skills in making an impact and difference to business owners in her chosen area.

Further exciting developments are happening at dynamic and fast growing franchise Assist With Solutions.

Following a period of consultation aligned to the company vision of creating the UK’s first ‘one-stop’ shop for specialist, structured and cost effective business support to entrepreneurs’ around the country, with immediate effect they will be offering a UK wide roaming licence to all franchisees, allowing them to benefit from personal contacts, wherever they may be located, as well as being able to offer their particular skill set throughout the client base wherever it is needed.

CEO Andy MacDonald explained, “This hugely important step will maximise the earning potential for our franchisees, as well as allow our clients to benefit from access to all the professional skill sets required to grow any successful business. Followers of our brand should look out for further exciting developments in the near future.”

Exciting developments are occurring at fast growing and dynamic UK business support franchise Assist With Solutions Ltd, who have teamed up with RSM Tenon Plc, the UK’s largest and most successful business recovery/turnaround specialists in the SME sector.

With 48 offices and 3500 staff throughout the country as well as presence in 85 countries around the globe, franchisees can be confident that any future client requirements in this area will be dealt with in the most professional manner.

Franchisees will act as project managers for their clients during the process and will be paid a percentage of the value of the work being undertaken.

If you are passionate about helping others achieve, while developing a lucrative and residual income for yourself, please click here to read more about Assit With Solutions.

Caremark (Aylesbury & Wycombe), a home care provider in Buckinghamshire, has recently signed a Preferred Provider Contract with Bucks Social Services to provide care and support to children and young people. The service will be giving specialist care and support to young individuals living at home, who have physical and/or learning disabilities, behavioural difficulties, or other special needs, some of which may be life limiting.

Caremark (Aylesbury & Wycombe) will commence provision of Care services to this very vulnerable sector of society this week thus providing valuable support to another ‘in need’ sector of their local community. Caremark (Aylesbury & Wycombe) has worked hard over the preceding months building and training a specialist team of care workers who will be responsible for providing the care and support to their young customers.

“We are extremely pleased that our planning and preparation for provision of care in this complex area has borne fruit and we are excited about expanding our quality services to one of the most vulnerable sections of society,” commented Janis Anderson, MD Caremark (Aylesbury & Wycombe).

Having registered earlier in the summer with the Care Quality Commission to provide care for children, Caremark (Aylesbury & Wycombe) are looking forward to adding this specialist service to their growing portfolio of customers.

For further information on the Caremark franchise opportunity, please click here.

£745,000 from a single showroom secures top prize at annual awards.
For a brand that has grown by almost 20 per cent this year, December’s Dream Doors Christmas Conference provided the perfect platform to celebrate. Top of the tree were Dream Doors Oxford’s Mike and Elaine Hurley, who walked away with an unprecedented triple trophy haul that included the coveted ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award for the showroom with the highest annual turnover.

Taking the top award for the first time with sales of £745,000 – and one stand out day in September that secured £69,000 and the award for the most ‘Outstanding Monthly Performance’ – the Hurleys beat their closest rival by more than £100,000. Holiday vouchers and luxury hampers were warmly received, but it was the people’s choice, or ‘Player’s Player’ trophy that the couple will cherish the most, an award voted for by all 40 Dream Doors franchisees.

“We knew about the ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award because everyone’s figures are published for the whole network to see,” says Elaine. “But we really didn’t expect the other ones, particularly the ‘Player’s Player’ award. That one really meant a lot. It was quite an emotional moment for us since we were chosen as winners by our peers, and not just as a result of our financial performance.”

“This does make it all worthwhile,” she adds. “We’ve been under pressure lately, managing the logistics and installations that follow such high sales. And with Christmas coming and a holiday planned we’ve not had much time to reflect on our achievements. This is real reward for all that effort, and we’ll be enjoying all three hampers well into the New Year.”

Amongst the other prizes handed out during the black-tie ceremony were the ‘Checkatrade Award’ for the branch that demonstrated the best in customer care, the ‘Head Office Award’ for the franchisee that had given most support back to the brand, and the self-explanatory ‘Most Improved Franchisee’ won by Dream Doors Bath’s Ivor McKeown.

Ivor said: “I’m totally shocked. The award was a real surprise for us, but it’s an accurate reflection of the year we’ve had. The first half of 2011 was pretty poor, and May was the worst month we’ve had in three years of trading. But since then things have just got better and better. The head office directed online marketing has helped by generating lots more internet based enquiries. But more importantly I have total belief in Dream Doors and the products and the service we provide. Customers want to see that and respond to enthusiasm and belief. Plus I couldn’t do this if I didn’t enjoy it, and I really love what I do.”

The UK’s leading children’s activity franchise, The Creation Station, announced the award of 11 new franchises to mums during the months of September and November 2011. The ‘Licence to Inspire’ children’s imaginations’ enables the 11 women to run their own art and crafts activity franchise within their local community and to start 2012 with their own ready-made inspiring business.

The 11 mums come from across the UK and are launching their Creation Station franchise within their local towns. Helen Silva is from Exeter, Debbie Collins is from Chester, Susan Hammond is from South Bristol, Susan Hicks is from Durham, Erika Doerksen is from Ipswich, Christine Cox is from Solihull, Ann Berry is from North Ipswich, Louise Platt is from Bedfordshire, Naomi Savory is from Southport, Debbie Miodonski is from Chelmsford and Cath Allen is from County Antrim.

Susan Hicks said: “I was looking for an opportunity that would give me flexibility around my family needs, but at the same time provide a good income” states Hicks from Durham. “I came across The Creation Station and both my husband and I felt it ticked all the boxes for us as a family. For me, I love the brand ethos and all the people involved are very supportive and helpful.”

Cath Allen from County Antrim in Northern Ireland was recently made redundant and was looking to run her own business to enable her to have more time with her daughter.

“I’m really excited to be the first to bring The Creation Station to Northern Ireland. I completed my training just three weeks ago and have already delivered a Creation Station Arty Party, which was really good fun, I have another booked for this Saturday too,” stated Allen. “The response to the Little Explorer and Baby Discovery art and craft classes has been really positive. I am starting 2012 with classes planned within the local community centres in Crumlin and Lilburn. I feel I have turned the difficult situation of redundancy around and I am now really looking forward to an inspiring 2012.”

The Creation Station is the UK’s leading children’s art and craft activity provider. With over 50 Creation Station franchise owners delivering art and crafts experiences for families and organisations within communities across the UK. The creative experiences include; Baby Discovery, Little Explorers and Family Fun classes, Arty Birthday Party entertainment plus activities at events. The Creation Station was established in 2002 by multi award-winner and mum to three, Sarah Cressall. The Creation Station is an affiliated member of the British Franchise Association and is running the children’s centre at the British Franchise Exhibitions throughout 2012 to support women and families that are considering franchising. For more information about franchise opportunities and the arts and crafts experiences of The Creation Station, click here.

Established in 1994, Auditel is the UK’s favourite and largest cost and purchase management franchise opportunity with a network of over 200 highly-skilled specialists. Auditel covers a broad range of business expenditure which includes costs as diverse as communications, energy, water, office supplies, freight, contract cleaning, merchant cards and waste management. Their client base of over 3,4oo in the UK ranges from small businesses to giant enterprises such as Pizza Express, YMCA and Oxford University.

Among their latest intake of new franchisees was Oldham-based Jon Wellings, an experienced IT Programme Director, with a reputation for delivering large, complex, high risk programmes and services. Asked why he selected Auditel, he recalled: “It’s a difficult decision to move from the corporate world into self-employment. However Auditel ticked all the boxes and have really helped me make the transition smoothly. The training was first class and a really useful start to my Auditel career!”

Another in the group was Nasser Butt, who lives in Surrey. He is a qualified Accountant with a background of providing Application Managed Services to major private sector organisations. Nasser revealed: “Auditel matched my needs, skill set and could be a vehicle to achieve my objectives for the next few years. The training gave me the knowledge base and confidence to get in front of my first client.”

Following last year’s nomination in the bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Award, Auditel was selected as finalists, together with only five other franchisors, to win the HSBC Franchisee Support Award for 2011. This award, which is managed by the British Franchise Association (bfa), is given to the franchisor who stands out as providing exceptional support to their franchisees, to give them the best possible environment for success.

Franchising is becoming an increasingly attractive option for those looking to run a business for the first time. The latest NatWest/bfa survey reveals that nine out of 10 franchisees remain profitable. As Brian Smart, Director General of the bfa said recently: “Yet again, franchising has demonstrated its inherent tenacity and stability, despite a tough climate last year.”

Laurence Knott confirmed: “Applicants recognise the value of our cost and purchase management service in these challenging economic times. Higher earners are enjoying an income of over £200k. Now is the time for any management professional who is seeking a career change to approach us. Auditel’s Free Discovery Seminars give an indication of what may be achieved within the franchise which can provide financial, business and personal satisfaction.”

Corporate caterers, Jasper’s Newcastle, are celebrating after scooping Franchisee of the Year at the prestigious 2011 Startups Awards, sponsored by Natwest. The awards ceremony took place at Kensington Roof Gardens on December 2, 2011.

Managing Director of Jasper’s Newcastle, Sue Burrows, said: “2011 has been a fantastic year for us. Our business is running smoothly with a strong customer base and we have added some big contract wins. In fact, the business has proved so successful that we are now planning to open our second Jasper’s franchise in Newcastle, run by our daughter Claire.”

Jasper’s Corporate Catering provide fresh, quality buffet food to business customers for events such as lunches, meetings, training and conferences; as well as vending and on-site catering such as workplace canteens and coffee shops. It is now franchising across the UK.

The Startups Awards finalists were judged on criteria such as sales volume, visionary leadership and social and community responsibility. The judges believed that: “Jasper’s Newcastle are stand-out winners of the Franchisee of the Year award. Started by a mother and daughter team who initially wore chef’s whites and hairnets in the morning while making the lunches; drivers hats at lunchtime to deliver the food; and business suits in the afternoon for cold-calling new customers; they now employ a team of 20 over three locations. Their growth in turnover and profitability are commendable as is their tenacity to continue striving while companies around them are closing.”

Steph Welstead, editor of Startups, said: “We were blown away by the standard of entries to this year’s Startups Awards. All of the businesses who made it to the 2011 final have shown innovation, guts and determination and the success they have achieved against the backdrop of the economic downturn is a true testament to the strength of UK entrepreneurship.

“Competition was fierce but the judges felt that each one of our winners had demonstrated sheer brilliance. Their stories will provide much inspiration both to people who are looking to start a business and to those who have already taken the plunge.”

Jasper’s Corporate Catering has come up trumps in the inaugural Best Franchise Awards, winning Best Growing Franchisor. The awards are based on an industry-wide study of franchisee satisfaction to understand which franchisors best deliver on their promises, have proven franchise systems and offer franchisees excellent financial and non-financial rewards.

Steven Frost, from the independent franchise research firm that runs the awards, said: “What makes these awards unique is they are based on what the real experts think – actual franchisees who work in those businesses day-in-day-out and their first hand experiences. The four franchisors recognised in this year’s awards are in an elite group and represent the very best franchise opportunities in the UK today.”

Jasper’s scored an impressive 90% overall satisfaction rating from its franchisees against an industry average of 69%; and also scored above the industry average on 27 of 28 criteria, with 100% satisfaction for 17 areas including: proven system, training and support, the Brand, products and services, maintaining standards, innovation, respect, trust, confidence and communication.

The industry-wide study of franchisee satisfaction on which the Best Franchise awards was based is known as the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark. It involved gathering feedback from over 1,000 franchisees. Franchisors from all corners of commerce participated, ranging from children’s sports coaching to business coaching; from lawn care to domiciliary care; and from retail to accountancy.

Nathan Siekierski, Director of Jasper’s, said: “Being able to compare our catering franchise model to the industry standards is something new and refreshing in the franchising world. Winning an award based on franchisee opinions is the icing on the cake and makes the hard work of the Jasper’s team worthwhile.”

Home Instead Senior Care have become accustomed to success in recent months, following recognition for franchise owners Catharine and Mike Chalton who were announced as bfa Franchisee of the year 2011 in October and November’s award at the Home Instead Senior Care international franchise partner conference; the business has now been awarded the Best Franchise System in the Best Franchise Awards 2011.

The satisfaction of over 1,000 franchisees was surveyed by bfa Affiliated Franchise Consultants and the results were ordered in three main categories: Franchise System, Training and Support and Recommendation. Home Instead Senior Care was a finalist in the Training and Support category and was crowned winner in the Best Franchise System category.

Commenting on the award Managing Director Trevor Brocklebank said: “At Home Instead Senior Care we have always believed that good franchisors should both guide and be guided by their franchise owners. By surveying franchisees regularly we are aware of the things that we do well in supporting our network and also understand the areas where they need more assistance.”

Dan Archer collected the award and commented: “Our Company has a significantly different approach to the provision of an essential service for which there is a rapidly expanding demand, in this situation a sound business system is important for success and to have our system recognised as industry leading is a great accolade. These independent awards are made doubly important because the winners are assessed by considering the satisfaction of their franchisees and the franchisees of other franchise models.”

Home Instead Senior Care has grown substantially in the last 12 months as franchisees have realised the opportunity presented by an expanding home care market. In closing Trevor Brocklebank said: “It is critical for us as the business expands that we retain our focus on supporting our franchise owners effectively. Our care services are considered industry leading because we have a high number caregivers to clients. Measuring franchisee satisfaction also allows us to ensure that our services as a franchisor are also market leading.”

For more information on the Home Instead Senior Care click here.