NZ Franchise Awards 2021 Results: HONOURS EVEN

The first franchise awards since 2019 neatly reflected the upheavals of the past two years. Not only did lockdowns mean the 2021 Awards were delayed until 2022 (and then took place online), but the top Franchise System and Franchisee Awards went to those who have been helping us stay safe during the pandemic – commercial cleaning franchises.

It was also fitting that the winners were two home-grown franchise brands – in fact, they were both South Island companies. Dunedin-based CrestClean took out the Westpac Supreme Franchise System of the Year award for the first time, while Gary & Kirsten Camoin of Paramount Services, Christchurch, were named Westpac Supreme Franchisee of the Year.

Other winners came from all around the country: Northland, Hibiscus Coast, Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Christchurch. The sheer quality of the finalists – 75 of them! – in every category pointed to the fact that the 2021 Awards were incredibly closely-fought, and that the franchise sector has real strength in depth.

And Franchise New Zealand media was honoured to be named Service Provider of the Year, reflecting 30 years promoting franchising and educating franchise buyers.

 

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Westpac Supreme Franchise System of the Year

Winner: CrestClean

CrestClean marked its 25th birthday in December 2021 and, if the Awards had taken place on their original date, they would have had another reason to celebrate – being named Westpac Supreme Franchise System of the Year for the first time.

From humble beginnings in Dunedin, CrestClean has grown to have 672 franchise businesses, making the company possibly the largest franchise group in New Zealand. CrestClean operates via a shared services model, with a support centre providing administrative and transactional services to franchisees and master franchisees, from administration and training to marketing and advertising. Today, the franchise network undertakes around 3 million hours of customer service each year.

The company has developed a number of different programmes to help ensure franchisees consistently deliver professional service. In 2013, it established the Master Cleaners Training Institute, becoming the largest private trainer of commercial cleaning personnel in New Zealand, and launched its bespoke Health, Safety and Environmental Management System, SafeClean, in 2014. These programmes put the franchise in a strong position when it came to meeting the challenges of Covid.

CrestClean has also responded to growing demand for its services outside the main centres with its Move to the Regions initiative, which has successfully helped more than 100 families and couples relocate to towns throughout New Zealand. Many of its franchisees are immigrants, coming from a remarkable 54 different countries.

The judges commented, ‘This is an outstanding, successful and very well-structured franchise system, with clear measures of business performance in all dimensions. CrestClean extend their concept of teamwork to all head office staff, franchisees, customers, suppliers, auditors, community partners, and independent directors. Keeping good contact with over 600 franchisees is a formidable task. The most recent satisfaction survey was completed by 477 respondents, with all the scores over 80 percent – for a business of this scale, that is an impressive response.’

Grant McLauchlin, managing director of Crest, says, ‘We entered the Awards back in 2002 and haven’t been involved at franchisor level since, but for our 25th anniversary we thought, "Right, let’s give this our best shot!" It was a fantastic experience: as a franchisor, you have to call on many people throughout the whole organisation to share their experiences and results at all levels, and we saw positive result after positive result. We knew our strategies were delivering, but to see it all pulled together in our final entry was wonderful.

‘One of the things we learned from entering in 2002 was that "for every action, there should be a process and then a result". We took that to heart – today, we have all our results across the franchise reported in a standardised form on a dashboard, and that’s enabled us to identify what’s important in our business and find further improvements. Winning reflects a lot of hard work by a lot of people over a very long time. It’s great to have that third-party validation of what we’re doing, and to be able to celebrate with all our team, our franchisees and our customers after a challenging couple of years.’

And he congratulated friendly rivals Paramount on winning the Supreme Franchisee of the Year title. 'I think franchising is quite unusual, in that we can have open and sharing conversations with our competitors. We all get along well, that's the nature of franchising. It's the modern form of doing business.'

 

Westpac Supreme Franchisee of the Year

Winner: Gary & Kirsten Camoin, Paramount Services Christchurch

Gary and Kirsten Camoin are the 2021 Westpac Supreme Franchisee of the Year. The couple emigrated to New Zealand in 2012 from South Africa, where Gary had been a technical field engineer for Bridgestone Tyres. Arriving in New Zealand, he became a support manager for Bridgestone’s Auckland branches.

‘I was working long hours and weekends and wanted to find an opportunity where I could spend more time with my young family, and schedule my work around doing things with them,’ says Gary. As it happened, a colleague’s husband owned a Paramount franchise and told them about the business. In October 2015, Gary and Kirsten became Paramount franchisees themselves, moving to the Christchurch suburb of Leeston to take up the opportunity. 

Today, the couple have 18 staff servicing 15 sites including bank branches, shopping malls and Government offices. Gary does the day-to-day management, while ex-teacher Kirsten manages the admin and payroll. They also have time for their three children: Tyler and Nevaeh, who almost stole the show on the live Awards feed (encouraged by MC Wendy Petrie), and the youngest, Grace, who was already in bed by the time her parents were named Supreme winners.

The Awards judges described Gary as ‘A true junkie for opportunities to improve efficiency and consolidate the business,’ and that’s borne out by his track record. In addition to his previous business experience and franchise training, which have given him a strong background in support management, negotiation, budgeting, internal audit, and analytical skills, Gary has also completed a Diploma in Small Business and Project Management from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

As a result, the judges found that, ‘Paramount Services Christchurch has established an impressive business, applying learning and adapting quickly to changing circumstances. They are extremely strategic and open to new opportunities, with a clear goal set for the future and very solid foundations on which to continue their success.

‘This was a very strong and thorough submission providing good information and data. They are to be commended on their resilience, their involvement in the community despite a demanding franchisee undertaking, and recognition of areas that needed consideration.’

Gary very much values the support he receives from the franchise. ‘Anyone can set themselves up with a few mops and buckets and claim to be a cleaning company, but Paramount are the professionals, which gives us a real competitive advantage.’

And he says that entering the Awards this year was a hugely valuable process. ‘We were finalists in our category in 2017 and love to be involved – it’s good for our team and our clients. You have to dig deep into how your business really operates – some of the questions in the entry process really force that. As a result, you find things that maybe you’ve left because they are working OK, but you could do better. That’s what it’s all about.’

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CATEGORY AWARDS & FINALISTS

Awards were presented for Franchisee of the Year and Franchise System of the Year in each of three categories:

• Retail & Hospitality
• Home & Lifestyle
• Business to Business

The Supreme Awards winners were selected from these categories.

 
Retail & Hospitality Franchisee of the Year
Winner: Alicia Nixon, Caci Silverdale

Retail & Hospitality is one of the most competitive categories in the Awards, as shown by the high number of finalists from many different sectors, and it was Alicia Nixon of Caci Silverdale who came out on top. Another South African immigrant, Alicia opened her skin care clinic on the Hibiscus Coast in December 2019, later adding a second in Warkworth.

Alicia brought 25 years of working with international beauty brands, including Christian Dior, Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder, to her own business, along with a passion for helping customers to feel confident in their skin.

‘At Caci, we’re all about customers and their needs, their goals and their journey, and creating a loving, safe environment where they can feel comfortable,’ she says. ‘A lot of people can feel intimidated, but we’re here to help everyone, no matter what their concerns are.’

In her business, she puts a lot of focus on education and professional development within her team, and says she learned a lot from the process of entering the Awards – winning the title is a bonus. The judges noted: ‘Caci Silverdale show very strong evidence of growth despite Covid. They have increased the number of staff and extended their trading hours, as well as achieving financial growth. They invest in their staff and are progressive in establishing strong relationships with neighbouring businesses.’

Finalists:

Jay Daji & Dinple Dullabh, Rodney Wayne Botany
Justin Rakena & Anna Conway, Night 'n Day Foodstores Wellington
Sarith Thong, The Coffee Club Manukau Supa Centa 
Sanjesh Ram, Mister Minit, Bayfair & Papamoa 
Shailendra Kumar, Mister Minit, Sylvia Park & St Lukes
Simarpreet Singh, Mister Minit, Upper Hutt & Queensgate

 

Retail & Hospitality Franchise System of the Year
Winner: The Coffee Club

The Coffee Club is a five-time winner of the Food & Beverage Franchise System of the Year category at the Awards, and this year topped the wider Retail & Hospitality section, demonstrating great consistency in an ever more competitive arena, as the list of finalists shows.

Founded in Australia, The Coffee Club is led in New Zealand by master franchisees Brad Jacobs and Andy Lucas, along with a dedicated support team. 

The past two years have been difficult ones for the hospitality sector, when the pandemic has had a huge impact with lockdowns, changing alert levels, social distancing, the introduction of click-and-collect, vaccination mandates and rent relief all posing unprecedented challenges. In these circumstances, the performance of The Coffee Club and the other finalists has been truly heroic.

The judges commented that this entry ‘demonstrated outstanding support and engagement with franchisees. The business is led from the top, with a leadership team who show enormous depth of understanding about their sector and business.

‘The ratio of support staff to franchisees is very strong, which gives strong oversight of the key indicators and support for the franchisees. Strong franchisees are the key to their growth and delivers a platform for sustained customer satisfaction and growth. Keep up the good work.’

Finalists:

BurgerFuel
Caci 
Cobb & Co.
Just Cuts 
Night 'n Day Foodstores
Rodney Wayne
The Cheesecake Shop

Category sponsored by Franchise Accountants

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Home & Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year
Winner: Prue & David Kimber, Poolwerx Waikato

David and Prue Kimber are regulars at the Awards, but we haven’t seen them for a while. Having started their Hamilton-based business in 2006, they grew steadily, winning the Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year title on several occasions before opening their first retail outlet in 2014. They then focused on growing their pool servicing business, opening new stores and putting multiple vans on the road to create a multi-million dollar business. Now they’re back, and back on top.

They have previously credited their success to the outstanding contribution of their team, saying, ‘Our Poolwerx business is continuing to grow from strength to strength, so it’s very important for us to continually invest in our people and to ensure that our customers feel valued in knowing they have received the best possible service.’

The judges agreed, saying, ‘The expansion of this business, in terms of the increase in the number of retail stores, service vans, staff and regular clients is impressive. They are very successful and have a commendable focus on investing in the right people.’

Finalists:
Adrian Kay, Dream Doors Christchurch
Indu Sudhakar, Dream Doors Wellington
Kerri & Trevor Bolt, Driving Miss Daisy Dunedin North

Home & Lifestyle Franchise System of the Year
Winner: Driving Miss Daisy

This was a very varied category, with finalists including fitness classes, renovation, home services and education. The winner was Driving Miss Daisy, which describes itself as a ‘companion driving service’ helping older people, the ill and injured retain their independence. The company was launched by founders Melanie and Jack Harper in 2009, and now has 80 franchisees providing driving services throughout New Zealand working with the ACC and Total Mobility Scheme. They have since expanded into the UK and Australia.

The judges commented, ‘Melanie and Jack have developed a very strong franchise system, delivering valuable community support and achieving great results for their franchisees. The head office team is very strong and well placed to ensure the franchisees prosper. 

‘During the Covid lockdown, huge support was forthcoming to ensure every franchisee survived – even reducing fees. This really pays off in the long term in developing strong franchisee loyalty.

‘They have clear and community-oriented vision, mission and value statements, and they achieve good results from the provision of a valuable community service. The customer experience numbers are impressive, with a random selection of 302 customers rating the service as 98 percent ‘Excellent/very good’. 

Finalists:
Altitude Pole & Fitness
Bricks 4 Kidz
Dream Doors
Green Acres
Hire A Hubby

Category sponsored by Ecomist

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Business to Business Franchisee of the Year
Winner: Gary & Kirsten Camoin, Paramount Services Christchurch

Gary and Kirsten Camoin of Paramount Services Christchurch went on to win the Westpac Supreme Franchisee of the Year title, after wowing the judges with their very comprehensive entry. ‘They provided evidence of very strong business performance and high business nous. They demonstrate a very clear commitment to their customers, and focus on improving their team and efficiency to continue upholding excellent service standards.’

Finalists:
Ernesto and Anna Lopez, Clean Planet South Auckland 
Matt Kemp & Michael Stevens, Think Water Gisborne
Robert McDowell, Pack & Send Albany 
Steve and Angela Bevan, Think Water Taranaki
Tatiana Chernysh, Clean Planet Hawkes Bay

 

Business to Business Franchise System of the Year
Winner: CrestClean

CrestClean got their evening off to a good start by winning the Business to Business category, before going on to be named Westpac Supreme Franchise System of the Year – the top title in franchising. As the judges said, ‘CrestClean is a very well-established and strong franchise business. Sustaining a strong relationship and depth of communication with over 600 franchisees is a formidable task ­– one to which they have risen exceptionally well.’

Finalists:
Anchor Franchise Network
Cleantastic Commercial Cleaners
Pack & Send New Zealand

Category sponsored by BDO

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SPECIAL AWARDS

Further Awards were made in a number of specialist categories. These winners were not eligible for the Supreme Awards. The categories were:

Franchisees

• Regional Master Franchisee of the Year
• Small Business Franchisee of the Year
• Excellence in Community Contribution
• Excellence in Customer Engagement

Field Managers

• Field Manager of the Year – under $500,000
• Field Manager of the Year – over $500,000

Franchise System

• Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Excellence in Community Contribution

Service Provider of the Year

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Franchisee Awards

Regional Master Franchisee of the Year
Winner: Roy Boonen, Clean Planet Hawkes Bay

This Award recognises the achievements of Regional Master Franchisees, who are responsible for the recruitment, training and development of individual franchisees within their own areas. Roy is a Hawkes Bay local with a passion for social justice, youth services, education and water research. He believes in marrying business with sustainable values. Former CEO and director of ethical finance and investment company Prometheus, Roy was also the general manager at Hawkes Bay’s Taruna College for teacher training. 

He became Clean Planet’s Commercial Cleaning Regional Master Franchisee for Hawkes Bay in 2011, establishing his business from scratch. He now supports 33 individual franchisees working across 180 sites in the region. These include 22 schools, many medical centres and a range of small, medium, and large businesses and organisations including Hawkes Bay Regional Council. 

Roy runs his business with the help of Nicola Moore, who was named Field Manager of the Year in the Under $500,000 turnover category (see below). ‘Clean Planet’s systems and approach give us the ability to run this large, demanding, and complex business with just two people,’ says Roy.

The judges said, ‘This was a well written and comprehensive entry. Roy clearly demonstrates a thorough understanding of his role, the critical relationships and how he manages them. The submission presented clear achievements and operational KPIs, both his own performance data and that of the franchisees.’

Finalist:
Stuart & Carol Spittle, Aramex Northland

Category sponsored by Gaze Burt

Small Business Franchisee of the Year
Winner: Ben Coates, Green Acres Northland

Ben Coates of Moerewa has been named Small Business Franchisee of the Year for his Green Acres Lawn and Garden Care franchise in Northland. This Award recognises a small franchisee business with no more than 2 full-time employees, including the owner. In Ben’s case, that’s not an issue – his stated goal is to earn an income while working only three days a week. Proving that you truly can have a lifestyle business, Ben spends his free time volunteering with Bay of Islands Animal Rescue. 

Despite this, the judges found no evidence of a slackening off or relaxing of standards in Ben’s business. ‘This entry demonstrates all the elements of a business that is using processes and structure in order to expand and conquer, rather than increase staffing,’ they said. ‘Ben’s concentration is on getting more punch/return from each job by using geographical clustering and offering a diverse array of suitable services alongside lawn mowing and gardening. 

‘It demonstrates good use both of the franchise system and the support provided by the franchisor. The owner is very aware of where the business is at and where it is going. He has a clear focus on efficiency and being effective in his work to sustain the business.’

Finalist:
Amy Chen & Min Cao, Paramount Services Auckland
Vicky Harris, Pukeko Rental Managers Hawkes Bay

Category sponsored by HR Assured

Excellence in Community Contribution – Franchisee
Winner: Angela & Michael Turner, Just Cuts Hornby 

This Award recognises a franchisee whose business makes a demonstrable positive impact through its contribution to the community. Angela and her husband Michael opened Just Cuts in The Hub Hornby in July 2016 and have been growing ever since. ‘Regardless of the economy, hair keeps growing and needing cutting,’ Angela points out. 

The couple were determined to give something back to the community and leapt at the chance when Just Cuts, in partnership with the Dress for Success charity, launched a nationwide discounted haircut programme for women in need who were seeking employment during the pandemic. 

A motivator behind the programme was the reality of many women now re-entering the workforce due to a partner losing their job or needing to switch industries. ‘I know one woman with a pending job interview, she had budgeted for a haircut, but then needed to spend the money on a trip to the mechanic to fix her tyre,’ Angela told Community.Scoop. ‘Our vouchers meant she could afford a $20 Style Cut in one of our salons and she was nearly crying. It’s something so simple but it can mean so much.’

The judges found that Angela also made a good business case for the programme. ‘This is a community contribution with clear drivers, motivations and benefits. It has come about through discussions; they have identified how to help more than just the receiver, understand the importance of people getting back into work, and the value of that to the family around them. They can also measure the success of their contribution when people get jobs and, in some cases, become repeat customers.

‘This was an excellent submission detailing why they contribute and the benefits to the community.’

Finalist:
Kerri & Trevor Bolt, Driving Miss Daisy Dunedin North

Category sponsored by Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre

Excellence in Customer Engagement – Franchisee
Winner: Adrian Kay, Dream Doors Christchurch

Adrian Kay was a first-time business owner and new to the kitchen industry when he bought his Dream Doors franchise in Christchurch in 2012 after a successful career in the electronics industry. That didn’t hold him back: he has gone on to build a multi-million dollar business which won him the Home Services Franchisee of the Year title in 2017.

This time the focus was on his customers and the way that Dream Doors Christchurch engages with them to produce the best possible result, using the company’s bespoke Franchise Management System to maintain constant contact with customers and collect feedback at every stage of what can often be a stressful process. 

The judges felt this was a strong submission, saying that the whole franchisee team ‘understands the importance of happy, satisfied customers. This passion for service is driven from their leader, who mentors the team to be their best.’

And it’s effective, as they went on to note: ‘It is impressive to see a rating of 5 stars in Google from 34 reviews.’

Finalist:
Paula & Craig Barkley, Caci New Plymouth

Category sponsored by Crank’d

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Field Manager Awards

The Field Manager of the Year Awards recognise the work of those individuals who are the first point of contact for franchisees, helping them set goals and develop their businesses, and enforcing standards when required. Entries were divided into two categories by franchisee turnover.

 
Field Manager of the Year - under $500,000
Winner: Nicola Moore, Clean Planet Hawkes Bay

Nicola Moore is Field Manager for Clean Planet Commercial Cleaning in Hawkes Bay, working with Roy Boonen – the new Regional Master Franchisee of the Year (see above).

She supports 33 individual franchisees, working with each of them on succeeding in business through delivering brilliant service to their clients. The goal is to make sure that their clients love them and don’t just see them as the provider of a commodity service. 

Nicola’s role includes delivering training, guiding them on how to be profitable in their businesses, and being available to help when issues arise. Nicola says, ‘I am heavily focused on brand alignment ensuring that the sustainability message and practice come through.’

The judges said her entry demonstrated that she fully understands the role of a field manager and how that relates to the overall success of the franchise system, which includes all stakeholders. 

‘It is great to see how she spends time to give her franchisee her own knowledge, to help them grow and, in turn, grow the business.’

Finalist:
Raewyn Stewart, Hire A Hubby

 

Field Manager of the Year - over $500,000
Winner: Gavin Carroll, Columbus Coffee

The delay in presenting the 2021 Awards meant that by the time Gavin Carroll received his Field Manager of the Year Award, he had already been promoted within Columbus Coffee to Franchise Manager – fitting recognition of his commitment to the success of the franchisees he helps. 

As if that wasn’t enough, he’d also been National Head Barista for the chain, sharing his passion for the perfect cup of coffee wherever he went. And as a former personal trainer, he is also well suited to the task of helping franchisees develop the business, leadership and sales skills they need. He demonstrates a highly systematic approach to delivering business success for the franchisees he supports, as well as for the Columbus Coffee franchise system as a whole. ‘My job is to deliver franchisee health as well as wealth,’ he told the judges – a phrase they particularly liked.

‘This was an excellent and very thorough submission,’ they said. ‘The role also has clearly articulated KPIs, which are important in measuring progress and achieving real results for franchisees.’

Finalists:
Colin Robson, Night 'n Day Foodstores 
Erin Gardner, Caci 
Paul Pateman, Bakers Delight
Rajan Patel, Paramount Services
Stacey Bree, Pit Stop

Category sponsored by Franchise New Zealand media

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Franchise System Awards

Marketing Campaign of the Year
Winner: Columbus Coffee

Prizes in New Zealand don’t come much bigger than a new car, but that’s what Columbus Coffee offered in its New Menu promotion – a bright yellow (of course) MG hatchback. The promotion was designed to build traffic for franchisees, with local dealerships taking cars to the cafés to increase the impact. A complementary campaign saw car buyers who took a test drive in an MG entered into a draw to win a month of free coffees. 

Franchisees were involved with the campaign from the earliest stages and Columbus also surveyed them afterwards to get honest feedback about the effectiveness of the promotion and associated advertising. The results informed future development of marketing  campaigns.  

‘This was a well-written submission with appendices to back up the entry throughout and to illustrate the campaign,’ said the judges. ‘Great measurements on multiple levels proving how well this campaign worked. It was clearly well managed and the results were impressive.’

Finalists:
Altitude Pole & Fitness
Aramex New Zealand 
BurgerFuel
Dream Doors
Just Cuts
Rodney Wayne

Category sponsored by Crank’d

Excellence in Community Contribution – Franchise System
Winner: The Coffee Club

According to the Franchising New Zealand Survey 2021, 90 percent of franchise brands return profits back into the community, with 24 percent of them contributing more than $100,000 per year via contributions and sponsorships. This Award recognises a franchise system whose business makes a demonstrable positive impact to the community it serves.

As one of the largest café chains in the country, The Coffee Club is actively involved in helping a large number of charities and community organisations, and also empowers its franchisees to do good on a local level. Their annual contribution to the SPCA’s Cupcake Day, which sees specially-decorated items made and sold nationwide, raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for the animal charity. Another high profile event has become a Christmas tradition with schoolkids around the country designing festive take-away coffee cups and napkins in support of the KidsCan charity. And, as well as getting involved with these national campaigns, individual franchisees are encouraged to support local school and sports teams.

‘We love that they (and their teams) get actively involved in community projects,’ said the judges. ‘We are also impressed that they empower franchisees to do good on local level. The Coffee Club demonstrates a clear understanding of the impact of sponsorship and doing good, not just on their brand, but also on staff morale and retention. Well done!’

Finalists:
Anchor
Carpet Court
Driving Miss Daisy

Category sponsored by Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre

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Service Provider of the Year Award

Service Provider of the Year
Winner: Franchise New Zealand media

This Award recognises a Service Provider to the franchise sector who demonstrates a significant contribution to New Zealand franchising. 

Franchise New Zealand media has contributed to the growth of franchising in New Zealand for more than 30 years. The first issue of Franchise New Zealand magazine was published in 1992 and was followed by one of the first websites in the country in 1997. The company has since added an email newsletter, digital magazine and social media to its mix to reach over 25,000 readers per month.

Since its foundation, Franchise New Zealand has provided free information about the process of choosing and buying a franchise to hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders. ‘By informing and educating franchise buyers, we have helped many to get into satisfying and successful business and, equally importantly, helped many more avoid making critical mistakes,’ says Sally Knight, the company’s Business Development Manager. The company has also sponsored franchise conferences, awards, surveys and events all over the country. 

‘Our passion and enthusiasm for franchising is reflected in our win/win, collaborative approach to business – an approach that we hope reflects the whole spirit of franchising at its best.’

The judges said, ‘Franchise New Zealand demonstrates an ‘above and beyond’ level of commitment to the sector and an ability to learn very quickly. They show true dedication to franchising, with their media providing industry profile and key marketing as well delivering return for their business. The entry contained robust information in all questions, including metrics and customer testimonials. Well done on an excellent submission.’

Finalists:
Duncan Cotterill
Franchise Accountants
Orb 360
Stewart Germann Law Office

Category sponsored by Aramex

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About the Awards

Awards entrants go through a rigorous assessment by a panel of independent judges, including a detailed submission and, this year, video questioning. The 2021 Awards criteria included a specific section on Covid response in addition to sections on achievements, engagement and performance. Entry is open to all members of the Franchise Association of New Zealand.

Introducing the 2021 Awards, FANZ Chair Dawn Englebrecht said, ‘The 26th Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards celebrate franchisor and franchisee excellence, as well as the field managers who do such an impactful yet challenging job and the service providers who help make things happen. 

‘I’d like to thank our very strong group of judges, who dedicate much time to review all the entries, assess the winners and provide some very valuable feedback to all. 

‘To the finalists here, I applaud your efforts – you are all incredible. To enter, the investment in time is considerable, yet your pursuit of excellence, competition and innovation are among the most important leadership characteristics for addressing today – and securing your stakeholders’ futures for tomorrow.

‘Thank you to all the Award sponsors and strategic partners who are critical to making this event happen, and thank you especially to Westpac for their long-standing and highly valued support of the Awards. Westpac has been a wonderful contributor to the development and sustainability of franchising in this country.

‘Finally, I would like to offer my very special thanks to the FANZ team: Robyn, Susan, Birke, Lauren and Adelina. They are the wonderful people who run the Association, and we thank you for all your hard work.’

A source of inspiration

And John Machell, Westpac’s Head of Hospitality, Tourism & Retail Trade – Business Banking, welcomed all the online viewers, saying, ‘E ngā mana, e ngā reo tēnā koutou katoa.

‘It is an honour to be here tonight to share in the success of franchising in New Zealand. It is with great pride that Westpac returns as the main sponsor of these prestigious awards. Here at Westpac, we‘re proud to be working with New Zealanders and Kiwi businesses to help them thrive. And. through our industry specialisation approach to business banking, we look forward to supporting this amazing subset of our economy for many years ahead.

‘Tuning in tonight are New Zealand’s best franchise systems and franchisees. Over the past year. you’ve had the courage and tenacity to adapt, make tough and often quick decisions and try new ways of doing business with new customers.

‘You’ve not only survived; you’ve come through this period, stronger and more nimble than ever. The skills you have picked up during this time will be invaluable as we move forward into a business landscape that will undoubtedly be different.

‘These awards not only celebrate the resilience and success of franchising in New Zealand, but also act as a source of inspiration. We have an opportunity to rebuild our economy in a more innovative and sustainable way. The businesses being celebrated here tonight are already leading that drive.

‘While winning an award is always the goal, the experience of entering is also hugely beneficial. The process encourages you to stop and take stock of your direction and strategy.

‘A huge thank you to all here tonight who have put in the effort to participate in these awards. You have demonstrated a real passion for your businesses and your brands. Thank you for being proud enough to stand up and seek recognition for your hard work and great ideas. You are trailblazers, innovators, role models and of course, leaders. Best of luck to you all.’

See the full Awards history here.

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