Posted on by Sarah Canny

Extra Help Conference and Awards 2024 – Our Annual Family Reunion

If you’ve been following Extra Help for a while, you’ll know that every year, we hold our Franchisee Conference and Awards. This year, it took place on Monday 7th October at The Bristol Hotel.

We always look forward to our conference as it gives franchisees a chance to come together and build face-to-face relationships; receive refresher training to enhance their business skills; participate in crucial planning; and receive important updates from our Head Office. Even more importantly, it gives the Extra Help family a chance to catch up and spend some quality time together!

What did we get up to during the conference?

We were very lucky to be joined by Berkeley Harris, the managing director of Sandler Training Bristol, who has become a regular and valuable contributor to our conferences over the years. Berkeley is a highly experienced consultant who works with businesses to improve the skills of their management and sales teams which, ultimately results in improved performance. He ran two valuable sessions during this year’s conference that focused on helping franchisees with the development of their sales and business planning skills.

We also ran a session with Clementine and Ian from Birdie, the all-in-one, business management, software system that our franchisees use to manage their individual franchises. Birdie automates day-to-day tasks, such as invoicing and rotas, to make their lives easier and save valuable time.

After various workshops and lunch, we ran a franchisee marketing and growth panel, where attendees were able to pose questions and ask advice of several experienced, successful franchisees. This session was particularly well received, with one franchisee saying it was “very helpful with lots of interaction and learning – sharing best practices with the franchisee panel was very useful.”

After the conference, we held our Welcome Drinks Reception, sponsored by Birdie, which allowed plenty of time for informal networking, and enjoyed a lovely dinner together.

The Extra Help Franchisee Awards

Finally, we held our eagerly-anticipated Awards ceremony, where Extra Help recognises and rewards our highest achieving franchisees from across the franchise network.

A huge congratulations to our winners, who are as follows:

Leanne lost a home-helper unexpectedly this year and demonstrated incredible strength in her ability to manage her way through difficult circumstances.

Julia launched Extra Help Exeter in 2016, which is one of our longest-running franchises.

Rachel launched Extra Help St Albans last year and since then, has demonstrated the genuine compassion and kindness towards her clients that exemplifies Extra Help’s ethos. Rachel is a true Extra Help ambassador and always goes the extra mile to make her clients feel valued.

Adrian purchased Extra Help Shropshire in 2021 and has seen particularly strong growth in 2024, his third year.

Sarah was responsible for the introduction and successful implementation of the new computerised Birdie system to manage appointments, clients and team members. This was implemented across the franchise network this year.

Alexandra purchased the established franchise, Extra Help Milton Keynes, as a re-sale, back in 2023 after being a customer of the branch. Since then, this franchise has experienced exceptional growth and is doing extremely well, all due to Alexandra’s diligence and genuine passion for the business.

Beverley has owned Extra Help Hammersmith & Fulham since 2020. During this time, she has demonstrated an ongoing, steady commitment to her business and clients.

Now in their seventh year, Carol and Cath to continue to smash records by running the most successful Extra Help franchise in the UK! With the largest number of clients and the most billed hours, they continue to build their esteemed reputation as one of the most recognised and respected home-help businesses in the Wirral area.

What did our franchisees think of the conference?

Prior to the conference, we ran a survey amongst our franchisees to discover their expectations of the event. We asked them a series of questions in order to ensure we tailored the agenda to include the topics they would find the most useful. After the conference, we invited them to provide feedback.

As we’d hoped, their feedback was extremely positive. Everyone who responded said they found the content very interesting and engaging and enjoyed the event. Many commented that, having attended the conference, they inspired and positive about their franchises.

We were very happy to receive so many lovely comments within the feedback – here are some highlights!

“This was my first conference and I have really enjoyed my experience so far. I was toying with the idea of buying the franchise for a few years. I am so glad I took the plunge. The experience of buying the franchise with Claire was great – thanks for your patience and flexibility. Training was robust, very informative and gave me a great start. I loved it! Sarah is very knowledgeable, patient, so supportive and very quick to help me with any questions.”

“I would sum up Extra Help as making a difference, making a valuable contribution to the community at large and I love the work / life balance it gives me!”

“Extra Help has helped me get a better work / life balance. I have really enjoyed the experience so far and look forward to many, many more years working with my local community promoting Extra Help. The franchise has been so supportive and I always enjoy the conference.”

“Thanks Claire, Sarah, Berkeley for looking after us – it feels like we are part of a loving, caring group, where we are allowed to grow and flourish in our own way but with your continued support and guidance – thank you!”

“I am brand new but very excited to get started. I greatly value the sense of community, wealth of knowledge, and level of support provided.”

“What a great, engaging, relaxing day! Great to meet other franchisees and hear about other branches, getting advice and support. I appreciate all the planning that’s clearly gone into the day.”

 “The conference has been great so far, it exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned from everyone. I’m looking forward to next year!”

Will you join us at next year’s conference?

Extra Help is always looking for kind and caring people who would like to own a rewarding franchise, offering a flexible range of home-help and cleaning services to their local communities.

If you think Extra Help could be the right franchise for you, give us a call on 01752 905790 to find out if your area is available. You can also visit our website for more information.