British Franchise Association's Franchisee of the Year

Yesterday I went to London with Angie Higgins, one of the Directors of Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs and, Sarah Skelton. Sarah runs a very successful franchise in and around Norwich in Norfolk and last November she was awarded our highest accolade, Franchisee of the Year, because she is exceptional.

Each year the British Franchise Association organise two award ceremonies – one for franchisors, (that’s like the ‘parent’ company of a franchise) and one for franchisees (people who have bought a licence to operate a business using the franchisor’s brand name and method of operating a business). Each year we enter our Franchisee of the Year for the BFA National Award for their Franchisee of the Year. In that competition you enter alongside franchisees from massive brands such as McDonalds, Prontaprint, Kall Kwick and so on. Ten finalists are selected and from those a Gold, Silver and Bronze Award is given at a Gala Dinner, this year on 1st October, the evening before the BFA Franchise Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham.

To become our Franchisee of the Year franchisees have to be extraordinarily successful and show they are prepared to go the extra mile for their members, market their business continually, follow the ‘Franchisor’s model’ and run a very effective and profitable business. Each year we submit an application for the BFA Franchisee of the Year Award and this is the third occasion in the last 15 years that our Franchisee of the Year has made the finals. Nine years ago, our franchisee Karen Perkins reached the finals and won Silver which was an incredible achievement.

Yesterday Sarah Skelton sat in front of the seven-strong judging panel at HSBC’s head offices in London. Angie and I accompanied Sarah but were not allowed to speak. It was all down to Sarah.
It was a daunting sight but Sarah delivered her presentation with confidence and passion. Sarah absolutely loves her business and everyone in that room was left in no doubt that her business and her members meant the world to her. The sheer effort Sarah continually invests into her business is awesome. She is focussed, determined, compassionate, smart and dedicated. Her business statistics totally buck the economic trend with every aspect of her business significantly building, year on year. She understands her business and doesn’t get diverted by ‘trends’ which would take her away from the fundamental service given by our franchise: to offer fun, safe and effective diet and exercise classes to suit everyone. She organises six outings a year for her members to suit all pockets – from skittle evenings to trips to health farms. In a couple of weeks she has two coach-loads of members going to London to see Mama Mia. She even sponsors her local kids’ football team- providing their strip and giving them a Christmas Party and teaches them team building by running mini-seminars for them.

Angie and I sat listening to Sarah like two proud parents. We had smiles on our faces the whole time and at the end of the 30-minute presentation and Q & A session, Sir Bernard Ingham, President of the BFA and one of the judges, said. ‘Thank you for exhausting us!’.

We don’t know whether Sarah will be a winner and if she isn’t, whoever does win has to be superman or – woman, and they will no doubt deserve it. But we couldn’t have asked more of one of our franchisees. Sarah was totally brilliant yesterday and is exceptional in the way she runs her business and is a phenomenal ambassador for us. Well done Sarah and BEST OF LUCK!

For details of Sarah’s and our other classes across the UK, please log on to www.rosemaryconley.com