Woman Franchisee of the Year Award

TaxAssist Accountants would like to congratulate their accountancy franchise owner Jackie Bligh for winning through to the finals of the Encouraging Women into Franchising awards (EWIF) NatWest Woman franchisee of the year 2010.

The awards ceremony was held at the NatWest building in central London on May 10th, and recognised the most successful woman franchisees for the past year. The awards were the first of their kind, providing a unique opportunity to formally recognise the growing contribution women franchisees, women franchisors and women franchise service providers make to this sector.  The event was attended by over 150 people from throughout the world of franchising.

Jackie won through to the final because of her phenomenal growth over the past five years, especially in the last year.  Jackie joined TaxAssist Accountants in November 2005 and in that time has expanded to two franchise areas, including three shops covering Torquay, Paignton and Exeter.

Graeme Jones, head of franchising, NatWest said: “As the number one bank for franchising, NatWest was proud to be one of the sponsors of these awards and encourage more women to realise the benefits of running a successful franchise.  NatWest are committed to developing female entrepreneurship, we have our own dedicated Women in Business Service as well as links with everywoman.

The Encouraging Women into Franchising Group was established in 2008, by Clive Sawyer, managing Director of Business Options, with the mission to inspire, encourage, educate and support women considering or involved in franchising through its network of ambassadors.  The group is made up of representatives from throughout the whole franchise industry.

All TaxAssist Accountants are franchised operations providing a full range of accountancy services to local businesses whilst being backed up by a Support Centre of 26 employees plus 3 Executive Directors dedicated to supporting franchisees in all areas including Technical, Practice Management, Marketing and Business Development to ensure mutual growth.

The support systems we have in place have ensured that our franchisees continue to grow and succeed, even during a difficult trading climate.  We don’t plan to stop there – we are constantly evolving and will continue to build on our success by capitalising on the significant growth opportunities both domestically and internationally.

We are looking to further expand our UK network through awarding our franchise to individuals who have the drive and ambition to build their own Accountancy Practice but can see the value in our brand and the support services we deliver to our franchisees.

Franchisees do not need any formal accountancy qualifications as full training is given, but you do need to have a relevant career background, be self motivated, disciplined, ambitious, hardworking and keen to build a substantial successful business.