Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection has today announced that Andy and Vicki Thompson, Card Connection franchisees for Sunderland and Durham region have been named as regional finalists for the BFA HSBC Franchisee of the year awards.

Andy and Vicki were selected as finalists from 16 nominations and the overall winners will be announced at a special gala dinner to be held at the NEC on 30 September 2010.

“Andy and Vicki Thomson recently won Card Connection’s franchisee of the year awards following the exceptional year on year growth they have achieved in their franchise, since joining Card Connection in 2004,” explains Andrew Cutler, sales director at Card Connection. “We are delighted their hard work is also being recognised more widely as finalists for such prestigious awards and everyone at Card Connection wishes them good luck for the final.”

As part of the selection process, Andy and Vicki had to make a presentation to judges made up of senior members of the BFA and HSBC, at HSBC’s head office at Canary Wharf. In addition to completing the detailed application forms, they attended a photo shoot and filmed a video interview ready for the final.

The BFA HSBC franchisee of the year awards are supported by Express Newspapers and the black tie event where the overall winners will be announced, brings together franchising industry professionals to celebrate the achievements of franchisees on both a regional and national level.

Card Connection has limited UK vacancies for franchisees who are keen to run an expanding business. Successful candidates would ideally have some management experience as, once established, they would be expected to employ a small team, operate a warehouse and have several liveried vans on the road.

Because the franchise networks in the UK and Ireland are complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development, but start at £20,000 (+ stock) with earnings potential in excess of £50,000 per annum.