Children’s services franchise Stagecoach Performing Arts announced the launch of its expansion into Lithuania on 17th September. With franchises currently operating in the UK, Canada, Germany, Malta, Spain, Gibraltar and Australia, presence in Lithuania marks the start of Stagecoach’s expansion to a new international territory. Master franchisee, Kęstutis Staniulionis, and first franchisee, Dovilė Staniulionienė, have launched Stagecoach Vilnius, which will offer classes and holiday workshops for young children and teenagers.
Married couple Kęstutis and Dovilė recently moved back to Vilnius after living in Germany for 11 years. Their daughter attended Stagecoach during their time in Germany, and its profound impact on her confidence and independence inspired Kęstutis and Dovilė to become franchisees. They believe “Stagecoach takes a fresh approach to teaching children to develop their skills in performing arts, and in life. Rather than preparing children to be professionals, Stagecoach encourages them to explore a range of performing arts, and to connect with themselves and the energy that performing brings. We’ve seen first-hand how beneficial this approach is, and we’re delighted to be able to instil Creative Courage for Life in young people in Lithuania,” explained Kęstutis.
With a background in management and logistics, and experience running an ecommerce company, Kęstutis brings a wealth of commercial expertise to his role as master franchisee. “My experience optimising client accounts and as a business owner will be put to good use as I develop Stagecoach’s presence across Lithuania. This is a huge project, and something I feel so passionate about – I cannot wait to see what we can build here in Lithuania.” Dovilė’s experience lies in the arts; as a piano player and lifelong musician, her work has involved teaching music to groups of students. “As a teacher myself, supporting other teachers to bring a first-class creative learning environment to students is top of my priority list. I’m excited to build a team of passionate and enthusiastic teachers, qualified to bring out the very best in their students.”
Stagecoach schools provide a thriving, nurturing and supportive environment for creative learning, focused on developing lifelong skills for students. Stagecoach Vilnius will be offering Early Stages for four- to six-year-olds, Main Stages for six- to 18-year-olds, plus holiday workshops, and classes will involve singing, dancing and drama.
Stagecoach believes maintaining and upholding its high standards can only happen if franchisees are given comprehensive training and support. All new franchisees in Lithuania will complete a three-month induction programme and have the option to join a franchisee-to-franchisee mentoring scheme. A robust franchise model, Stagecoach’s network includes more than 300 franchisees, operating over 3,000 schools, now in eight countries.
Kęstutis is keen to help unlock the potential of students in Lithuania: “Stagecoach is a prestigious performing arts school, and I am honoured to be managing its expansion in Lithuania. Our franchisees will bring invaluable knowledge and insight of what is going on outside of their business in the local community and further afield, across the industry and wider world. Their unique perspectives, combined with Stagecoach’s exciting and varied framework of teaching and development, is going to allow us to build an established and reliable franchise opportunity here in Lithuania.”
Fully supportive of the Lithuania expansion, Andy Knights, CEO of Stagecoach, said, “We’re thrilled to bring Stagecoach to Lithuania, where we know Kęstutis and Dovilė will do a wonderful job progressing our programme and supporting young people to go on to do incredible things in the performing arts and other creative industries. Bringing the right people into the Stagecoach global network is of utmost importance, and we’re so excited to see the family grow in Lithuania.”