New Life Members recognised

The Franchise Association of New Zealand turns 21 this year, and the occasion was marked at tonight’s Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards with the awarding of Life Membership honours to three long-standing supporters of FANZ.

Laurel McCulloch

Laurel McCulloch first became involved in franchising in 1983 as co-founder of the Arano Juice franchise, alongside husband David. Arano provided the first chilled juice product to restaurants and cafés and is considered one of the pioneer franchise systems in New Zealand.

She was heavily involved in the establishment of the Franchise Association of New Zealand in 1996, not only housing the first secretariat of the association in her personal office free of charge, but also personally providing significant administration and back-of-house support on a voluntary basis. This was invaluable in building a strong association during the early years.

In 2008, Laurel joined the Board of FANZ and served for four years. Her practical franchise knowledge and experience, along with her desire to give back to the franchise sector she was so heavily involved in, made her a highly valued Board member. 

Laurel remains a hugely active member of the franchise community today in her role as a business broker at Link Business – itself a highly successful New Zealand franchise system. Working with a range of high-profile franchises, she goes well beyond her broker role to ensure that franchising itself remains a highly credible and well-respected business model. Her reputation and integrity make her a well-deserved recipient of this honour.

Galvin Bartlett

Galvin Bartlett has been in the commercial cleaning industry for more than 55 years. Born in Dargaville he moved to Auckland to become a commercial photographer. In 1963, he took a part-time cleaning job to supplement his income as he and Suzanne planned to get married. This was the start of two very long unions.

In 1979, Galvin and Suzanne decided to venture out on their own with 1 cleaning van, 1 customer contract and 3 staff. He introduced franchising to the cleaning sector in New Zealand at a time when the concept was generally scorned by competitors and customers alike. Life was made very difficult for Galvin at times, but he remained a true believer in franchising despite the challenges and for nearly 40 years has held tight to the franchise model with great results.

Today, Paramount Services is one of the leading cleaning franchise systems in New Zealand with 160-plus franchisees, 1,000 staff and more than 2,000 customers. Paramount has also been recognised at the Westpac Franchise Awards many times, winning the Supreme Franchise System of the Year award in 2008 and 2015. 

Galvin is a quiet and humble man, but his personal passion and tenacity have seen him build such a highly successful franchise group. Under his leadership, Paramount has been pro-active in environmental issues and has also taken positive steps to help many immigrants create thriving businesses operating to award-winning standards in a highly-competitive industry. In summary, Galvin has built an exemplary business in the tradition of inclusiveness which is a hallmark of franchising in New Zealand.

Estelle Logan

Estelle Logan’s involvement with franchising commenced in 1994 when she and her husband John bought an area franchise for V.I.P. Home Services. They went on to become New Zealand National Franchisors for the brand, and built a lasting reputation for excellence in franchising. V.I.P. franchisees and master franchisees have won numerous awards.

Estelle has given generously of her formidable personal skills and made a huge contribution to the Franchise Association. She was instrumental in setting up the current complaints panel and procedure for complaints, ensuring independence from the Board and bringing credibility and professionalism to the Franchise Association.

She was the first woman Chairman of FANZ at a time when the Government reviewed the need for Australian-style regulation of the franchise sector. She personally attended meetings with Government, dealt with the relevant officials and played a key role in avoiding the introduction of what could have been game-changing legislation. Her leadership helped enable franchising in New Zealand to thrive in an environment of best practice without unnecessary regulation.

Estelle has always believed strongly that New Zealand franchising should have a presence on the international stage. As FANZ Chairman she represented New Zealand on the World Franchise Council and was instrumental in creating a mission statement, vision, purpose and strategy plan for the WFC. Her involvement eventually led to New Zealand being unanimously appointed the Secretariat for the WFC, which position it went on to hold for several years.

A tireless supporter and organiser of Franchise Association events and activities, Estelle is always looking for ways to contribute to franchising both nationally and internationally. She is a worthy recipient of Life Membership.

Honoured

In awarding the Life Membership certificates, FANZ Chairman Brad Jacobs noted that without people like Laurel, Galvin and Estelle, franchising in New Zealand and the Franchise Association would not be in the healthy position they are today.

‘As the recent Franchising New Zealand 2017 survey confirmed, New Zealand is the most franchised country in the world. It is thanks to the efforts of the people who have given so generously of their time and expertise over many years that we have achieved this status, and the Association is proud to honour Laurel, Galvin and Estelle in this way.’

The other Life Members of the Association are:

Robert Fowler
Stewart Germann
Fraser Heaven
Simon Lord
Rory MacDonald
Bill McGowan
David McCulloch
Win Robinson

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