We are beyond delighted that Platinum Wave CEO Suzie McCafferty won the Woman of the Year award at the NatWest Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWiF) Awards 2023!
Well, what an event! Hats off to Helen Mansfield and the teams at EWiF and NatWest for hosting this fabulous celebration of talent in the UK franchise industry. The theme of the awards was Breaking Through Barriers and every single finalist was an inspirational example of not letting anything hold them back from smashing their goals.
From all of this year's award winners Suzie was chosen by Pip Wilkins, CEO of the British Franchise Association, as the Overall Women of the Year 2023 for her dedication, ambition, and ability to inspire others.
We are also honoured that Platinum Wave won the Service Provider of the Year award for the 4th time among some incredible finalists. Also for the 4th time, we were delighted to sponsor the award for International Woman of the Year. From some truly amazing nominees, the winner was the very lovely and very impressive Angela Sterling from Lingotot.
As if we needed anything else to put a smile on our faces that day, Suzie's sister Sarah Maguire was a finalist in the New Woman Franchisee of the Year category after only her first year in business as a Raison Home franchisee!
Every year, the EWiF annual awards celebrates the achievements of women in franchising. An industry worth £17bn to the UK’s struggling economy. The awards took place at the NatWest building in Central London with over 140 franchising professionals coming together to applaud the successes of women from a variety of sectors. Franchising was, traditionally speaking, dominated by men, which is why the organisers of these awards, Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWiF) believe it’s so important to honour women, specifically.
As Helen Mansfield, Managing Director of EWiF, says, “The rising numbers of women finding purpose through running their own businesses, fully supported by their franchise, is a real joy to see! We’ve been encouraging women to see franchising as a viable route for business success since 2008.”
After the event, Suzie said "I am so, so thrilled by this. It was already an emotional day after hearing such inspiring talks from Lucy Campbell from Right at Home, and Claire Lomas MBE, and seeing my amazing sister's name up on the big screen, so I admit I may have had wee tear in my eye by the end of it all. I didn't think EWiF could top last year's event, but I think they just did!"
EWiF is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers, who provides advice and guidance to anyone wanting to break into franchising – either to start their own business, or to expand a current business. Their remit is threefold: to encourage women to buy a franchise if they want to run their own business, to encourage others to franchise their existing operations, and to help franchisors attract more women into their networks. With regional meetings, mentoring, an annual awards ceremony and much more taking place for their members, EWiF is a valuable community and source of information for so many women in franchising.
Congratulations to all of the winners, and all of those that were nominated! Keep inspiring us!
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