It was a night of total celebration at the bfa HSBC Franchise Awards with Razzamataz Theatre Schools sweeping the board by winning both of their categories in this prestigious event.
Oscars of franchising
Known as the ‘Oscars’ of the franchising industry, this year saw a record number of entries with competition tight and standards incredibly high. Razzamataz battled it out against three other franchise brands to take home the coveted Lifestyle Franchisor accolade, which was collected by MD and Founder Denise Hutton-Gosney.
This year, Razzamataz has heavily invested in its franchisees and Head Office structure to enable every franchise partner to build the business that best suits their lifestyle, while being profitable, providing exceptional standards of performing arts training and opportunities to students and giving back to their local community.
Lifestyle Franchisor of the year
Some of the standout initiatives that appealed to the judges included the scholarships and opportunities that are provided to the students, Managers Training, which is allowing franchise partners the option to open additional territories, Team Celebration Days, which is offering career progression for all staff and the strong sense of support and nurturing environment that runs throughout the network.
Hear from the judges
“This franchisor is creating a powerful self-fulfilling life cycle,” says Gillian Morris, Head of Franchising, HSBC. “The judges agree that it is clear that as success comes, opportunity is shared. There’s a really strong sense of family and community across this network. Exit planning and resales have not been forgotten, they ensure that people are supported in and out of the system and education is clearly visible across their network. Scholarships, teacher and manager programmes are all in place to create the Principals of the future. This is a franchisor with a huge heart, come on up Razzamataz.”
Proving that this investment in franchise partners is already paying off, the team were delighted when Asha Richardson, Principal of Razzamataz South Lakes was announced winner in the Lifestyle Franchisee category of the bfa HSBC British Franchise Awards.
Lifestyle Franchisee of the year
Asha was 23 when she started to work as a teacher for Razzamataz Penrith but straight away, knew that she wanted a bigger challenge and believed that she could offer so much more as a franchisee. She took over Razzamataz Penrith mid-pandemic and in just over two and a half years, the business has grown by 700%. At just 28, Asha has not only achieved incredible results for her school, she has also piloted new services for Head Office, supported and mentored one of her teachers into a franchise partner role, is an active member of the Razzamataz Franchise Advisory Council and All Stars Academy, offers countless opportunities for her students, gives back to her local community through different types of support and charitable work and has her own charity in Ghana.
Hear from the judges
If this wasn’t impressive enough, she manages to combine all of this with being a parent to her two very young sons. “This lady has taken her franchise, made it her own and inspired others to do the same,” says Gillian Morris, Head of Franchising, HSBC. “She is a mentor in the franchisee community, she champions diversity within her business and is piloting an exciting new concept for her franchisor. She does it while juggling a young family and still manages to spend six weeks in Ghana supporting her own charity.”
Ethical franchising
Razzamataz Theatre Schools has been a member of the bfa for as long as we have been franchising, more than 15 years. This shows our strong commitment to ethical franchising. At Razzamataz, we believe that it is about creating a business where we are 100% committed to supporting the franchisees to succeed, so our income is directly linked to the success of every individual franchisee. We want you to succeed in order that we continue to thrive.
Join the bfa Lifestyle Franchisor and Franchisee of the Year 2022 Team
We are looking for dynamic partners to own a Razzamataz Theatre School as well as teachers and assistants. If you are looking to make a difference in your local community to the lives of young people and you have a passion for performing arts, we would love to hear from you.
