Razzamataz announced as one of the UK’s best franchisors  

WorkBuzz has announced the winners of the 2020/21 Best Franchise Awards, sponsored by Lloyds Bank, at their virtual awards ceremony held on Wednesday 10^th February. Multi-award winning Razzamataz Theatre Schools is delighted to be named as Best Franchise in the £2-£10m network turnover category, as well as scooping two other awards.

 

Franchisee feedback

What makes this win especially unique is that the awards are based on feedback from thousands of actual franchisees. To be considered, franchisors must have taken part in the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark programme. Franchisees are asked to complete a confidential online survey, rating their franchisor on qualities such as initial training, ongoing support, their relationship with the franchisor and whether they would recommend the franchise to a prospective franchisee. The top-performing franchisors are then put forward as finalists in the Best Franchise Awards where they were invited to present to a judging panel of industry experts from Lloyds Bank, Hitachi Capital Franchise Finance, d&t accountants, Platinum Wave, Franchise Resales and What Franchise.

 

Hear from the judges

“During the most challenging of years, there has never been a more important time to celebrate how great franchisors have supported their franchise networks,” says Steven Frost, CEO of WorkBuzz. “Every winner and finalist was significantly impacted by the pandemic but demonstrated great leadership and innovation – some even launched brand new digital offerings when faced by lockdown. Once the pandemic is over, these franchisors will bounce back quickly and their franchisees will not forget the leadership and support they provided when they really needed it. I would like to congratulate them all on what they’ve achieved and the difference they’ve made.”

 

Leading with kindness

During the presentation, the Razzamataz team spoke about how they lead their team with trust, integrity and kindness to leave a positive legacy for students, franchisees and the franchising sector. “Our franchisees took on the task of supporting their teams and customers, resulting in some overwhelmingly positive testimonials,” explains Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz. “However, as franchisor, we recognised the toll that it could take on them so we provided resources to help them take care of their own mental health. We launched our own Wellness Service, in which franchisees could request additional emotional support with a coach that we have been working with.”

All through lockdown, Razzamataz provided a host of guest online training including: How to cope with adversity with Penny Power OBE and how to deal with the effects of lockdown with coach and motivational speaker Brian Costello from Headstrong. There was lots of new training and support sessions, webinars, regular one to one support calls, closed Facebook groups that gave weekly tips and challenges and regular PR and communications templates. This was in addition to completely rewriting the Operations Manuel, much of which came from researching different countries’ policies.

 

 

 

Franchisee growth

As well as the Award win, the most satisfaction has come through the hundreds of positive testimonials from franchisees and families. This has resulted in a 70%-90% student return rate, an average of 85% sign up for the online virtual Razzamataz classes and current franchisees have the confidence to take on multiple territories and expand their regions.

 

Last year, Razzamataz took on ten new franchisees and this year, there are new franchisees for five new territories just a few months into the new year. “We are delighted to be welcoming more new franchisees and offering the Razzamataz experience to more children and young people,” adds Denise. “Our current franchisees are expanding by taking on new territories and launching new Razzamataz products, which all shows faith in our brand.”

 

Opportunities in the franchise industry

The WorkBuzz Awards has shown the resilience of the franchise industry and with more people set to lose their jobs through redundancy, the Razzamataz team would like to speak to people who share their vision. “We will be focusing on building back confidence, life skills and fitness for a generation of young people that has been so badly affected by the pandemic,” concludes Denise.

 

Razzamataz Theatre Schools were also delighted to receive the 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction and Continuous Improvement Awards.

 

Hear from our franchisees

“WOW!!! HUGE congratulations guys on this incredible achievement – yet another! Was so chuffed to see this. But actually not surprised. We know what we do is amazing and literally life changing, it comes as no surprise to me when we win all these awards. Perfect recognition for the AMAZING passion and work that goes in from you all. Very proud to be part of this network,” Nick Furlong, franchisee Razzamataz Sutton Coldfield and Derby.

 

Razzamataz Presentation included:

• Leading with trust, integrity and kindness.
• Positive legacy for students, franchisees and the franchising sector.
• Launch of wellness service.
• The launch and strength of the Master Mind Group.
• Franchisees expanding into multiple territories.
• Increasing revenues
• Amazing PR opportunities.
• Wonderful testimonials.
• New franchisees successfully launching throughout the pandemic.

 

What the judges said

 

Join our network

We are currently looking to launch more theatre schools across the UK and overseas. If you would like to find out more about our ambitious growth plans and be part of multi-award-winning Razzamataz Theatre Schools network, drop Charlotte a line from our friendly Head Office team to book on to one of our virtual Discovery Dens.

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 07821122242