Mail Boxes Etc franchisees Christine Sykes and husband Russell believe in setting high standards.

Their commitment to customer service was rewarded with MBE’s 'Outstanding customer care' award.

They bought the postal franchise after Russell was made redundant, which he saw as a golden opportunity to have his own business, a dream held for many years.

“We were pleased to find that franchising is a way of being in business for yourself but not entirely on your own,” he says. “We liked the idea of training and support and that there is always someone to ask if you hit a problem.

“Christine and I felt it was a less risky way of going into business than being entirely alone.

“Mail Boxes Etc met all our criteria, not least because it would provide an opportunity for us to work together, which I can recommend. It has been extremely successful and our personal experience has been great.”

Christine agrees.

“Of course we work hard but we laugh a lot because we enjoy the enormous variety of tasks and we like our customers," he says. "It is great when things go really well and we feel a real sense of achievement.

“Ironically, we’d always said previously, 'I wouldn’t want to work with you – how awful', and here we are doing it and loving it.

“Neither of us would ever want to be employees again.”