Australian Franchise Awards
– 2017 Results

G.J. Gardner Homes is Australia’s Established Franchise of the Year for 2017, marking another huge achievement for the home-building company which recently broke into the world’s Top 100 franchise brands.  Founded in Queensland in 1983, the company started franchising in 1995, coming to New Zealand just two years later. Today there are over 120 franchisees throughout Australasia and the USA with reported global sales of US$895 million.

Australia’s International Franchise of the Year was founded in Hawkes Bay. Fastway Couriers was founded in Napier in 1983 and was franchised from the very start. Founder Bill McGowan reflected on the early years in an article for Franchise New Zealand where he wrote, ‘…we had an extremely tight budget. There were nights where five or six of us would share a hotel room to keep costs down, and even times when I camped on the side of the road by a stream or slept in the car on my way to do a franchise visit!’ It paid off, with the company becoming a leading player on this side of the Tasman before entering the Australian market with great success in 1993. The company won  the same Award in 2015. Last year, Fastway was sold to Dubai-based Aramex for $125 million and continues to operate via a network of regional and courier franchisees.

Soul Origin was winner of the Australian Emerging Franchisor of the Year Award, having been a finalist for the past two years.  The café offers a range of healthy food options including gourmet salads, sandwiches, wraps and baguettes, and has the slogan ‘Eat Mindfully”.  Founded in 2011, it has over 70 outlets across Australia but has not yet come to New Zealand.

The winners of the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards will be announced on Saturday 11th November - see last year's results here.

Other winners in this year's Australian Awards were:

Franchisee Awards

Multi-Unit Franchisee of the Year –  Ryan Willsher, Finn Franchise Brokers, North Perth and Regional WA
Single Unit Franchisee of the Year, 2 or more staff – Nellie Dicks, Bank of Queensland, Richmond
Single Unit Franchisee of the Year, less than 2 staff – Beverley Taylor, InXpress, Bondi

Franchise Excellence Awards

Excellence in Marketing – Hire-A-Hubby
Excellence in International Franchising – G.J. Gardner Homes
Franchise Innovation – Hire-A-Hubby
Franchisor Social Responsibility – G.J. Gardner Homes
Franchisee Community Responsibility and Contribution – Ryan Willsher, Finn Franchise Brokers, North Perth and Regional WA

Other Awards   

Franchise Woman of the Year – Sandra Carrington, FAD Cheer and Dance
Field Manager of the Year – Eric Celik, Pack & Send
Supplier of the Year – MST Lawyers
Franchise Hall of Fame Inductee 2017 – Rod Young
NextGen in Franchising, FranShark Competition winner – Aaron Smith, KX Pilates