Get Ahead Berkshire and North Hampshire, led by franchise partnership Kristy Roff and Suzanne Cox, is celebrating being shortlisted in the Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) Awards 2021.
The duo fought off fierce competition to be one of just four finalists in the New Woman Franchisee category, sponsored by Natwest. This award is open to new franchisees who began their business in the last two years. Organisers said that there were a record number of entries this year and the standard was the highest in the entire 12 years of the EWIF Awards.
Winners will be announced at a virtual Award Ceremony on Thursday 11th March 2021. Until then, the pair will be keeping their fingers crossed. “The past 12 months have been a massive challenge for us and our young business,” Kristy Roff commented, “but we are both so proud of everything we have achieved. Despite the major impact of COVID-19, we have grown our business, taken on new clients for a variety of projects including logo design, social media management, email marketing, business coaching, project management, event facilitation and administration. With a team of seven super Zoom facilitators, we supported the behind the scenes operation of the StartUp>ScaleUp Summit, coordinating several days of excellent business learning, 200 Exhibitors and 72 Speaker sessions, as well as exhibiting ourselves at other virtual events.”
Kristy and Suzanne met at a mother and baby group over twelve years ago and have been friends ever since. When they saw that the Get Ahead VA Reading franchise was available, they felt it was too good an opportunity to miss. “I am particularly proud of the charitable work we did this year for Coffee with Care,” Suzanne added. “This community initiative to give back to the NHS needed a logo and we were delighted to help free of charge. The successful project saw several hundred machines and several thousand coffee capsules/pods delivered to hospitals in the South East and London. We also started a virtual charity business quiz to get business owners together for a bit of fun and raise money for worthy charitable causes in desperate need of help in these challenging times.”
Rebecca Newenham, founder and director of Get Ahead said: “Kristy and Suzanne are living proof that franchise partnerships can be very successful. They have achieved so much over the past two years, including running a new business, during a global pandemic, all whilst homeschooling their children. Winning this award would be the icing on the cake and real recognition for what their hard work and smart thinking have delivered.”
