The nine inspiring EWIF award winners have been announced

EWIF stands for Encouraging Women into Franchising, and that's precisely what this not-for-profit organisation does. Run entirely by volunteers, the EWIF offers support and guidance for women considering becoming franchisees, encourages female business owners to franchise their existing operations, and helps franchisors to appeal to more women.

The 2018 EWIF awards

To raise awareness of the benefits of owning a franchise for female entrepreneurs up and down the country, the EWIF host an awards ceremony every year to celebrate the achievements of women in franchising.

The eighth NatWest EWIF Awards were held on Tuesday 15th May, in Bishopsgate, London. There were eight categories for this year’s awards with 32 nominees hoping to win a prestigious award. There was also an Overall Woman in Franchising award which was chosen and sponsored by the EWIF.

Without further ado, here are the lucky winners.

2018 award winners

New Woman Franchisee of the Year: Julie Houston – Right at Home

Woman Franchisee of the Year: Shweta Jhajharia – ActionCOACH

New Woman Franchisor of the Year: Jo Middleton - Dog First Aid

Woman Franchisor of the Year: Fiona Simpson – ARTventurers

Woman Franchise Employee of the Year: Ali Beckman - Puddle Ducks

Young Woman in Franchising of the Year: Hannah Drury – Caremark

Service Provider of the Year: Fiona Boswell - Fraser Brown

Inspirational Woman of the Year: Jane Maudsley - Little Voices

Overall Woman in Franchising: Ali Beckman, Puddle Ducks

The women behind these popular franchises embody the EWIF’s vision to educate, inspire and empower more women to get involved with franchising.

A bit more about a couple of the winning franchises

If you’re thinking about owning a franchise and want some more information about the best franchises to buy, these award-winning businesses are a great place to start:

ActionCoach

Have you ever wanted to help other small business owners by sharing the skills and knowledge you’ve learnt throughout your career? If the answer is yes, then ActionCOACH could be one of the best franchises to buy.

As an ActionCOACH franchisee, you'll get to help business owners to increase their profits, develop robust systems and build strong teams. Not only do you benefit from running a profitable and sustainable business, but you also get to make a real difference to the lives of small business owners which is extremely rewarding.

There are three levels of franchise packages for you to choose from, starting at £27,000. This investment will see you generating a guaranteed income of £8,333 per month by your seventh month of trading. If you think you have what it takes to take advantage of this lucrative franchise opportunity, then you could be joining the other 150 franchisees throughout the UK.

Franchisees like the EWIF award-winning Shweta Jhajharia. Not only has Shweta won the 2018 Woman Franchisee of the Year award but she has also been recognised by external bodies and industry experts as one of the top coaches in the UK.

Shweta's background is in marketing. She worked for Unilever for nine years prior to owning a franchise with ActionCOACH. The skills that Shweta had learned during her corporate career gave her a good foundation for starting her own business and has been awarded the ‘London Coach of the Year’ consistently since 2009.

And it appears that the accolades that Shweta has received are well deserved. Despite the uncertain economy, her clients have achieved double-digit growth with her help and support. But this isn’t the only reason Shweta won this year’s award. She was also recognised for her charity work as, along with some of her clients, Shweta has partnered with the Buy1Give1 project, paying for a year’s education for 40 children in rural India.

Caremark

One of the most popular franchises in the care industry is Caremark. This home care franchise doesn’t just cater to the needs of the elderly but anyone who needs help to live comfortably in their own home.

This is one of the most rewarding franchises to buy if you have a genuine concern for others, a passion for helping to improve the quality of people’s lives and the determination to make your business a success. The total investment cost to start your own Caremark franchise is £100,000.

If you fancy joining the 75 other UK based Caremark franchisees, then you’ll be in good company. The winner of this year’s EWIF Young Woman in Franchising award went to Caremark’s Operations Director, Hannah Drury. And this isn’t the first award that Hannah has received.

At the 2017 British Franchise Association awards in collaboration with HSBC, Hannah won the Young Franchisee of the Year award. To her amazement, the 400 strong audience at the ceremony then voted her as the overall Franchisee of the Year.

Hannah also proves that franchise opportunities can come along when you least expect them. It was Hannah's mother and step-father that originally started the Caremark franchise is Sutton, but when her step-father was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, he asked Hannah to take over.

Hannah said yes, without hesitation, and hasn’t looked back since. The journey has been challenging, especially when Hannah had to deal with the loss of her step-father when she had only just taken over the business. However, Hannah is grateful for the opportunity that she’s been given and the support she’s received from Caremark.

The franchise has supported Hannah through her transition to franchisee and even allowed her to complete her initial training free of charge. Caremark saw the potential in Hannah, and their faith in her ability has now paid off, and her business has gone from strength to strength.

If these stories have inspired you to become a franchisee, then there are over 900 popular franchises to choose from in the UK. Who knows? You could even be nominated for an award at the 2019 EWIF awards.