Fiona Harrall from Home Instead Senior Care, in St. Albans, has just been announced as a finalist for EWIF’s (Encouraging Women into Franchising) Woman Franchisee of the Year Award for 2013, sponsored by NatWest. The awards recognise and celebrate women in the UK franchising industry. Fiona set up her franchise business in March 2010 and she has seen it go from strength to strength. Married with 2…

Fiona Harrall from Home Instead Senior Care, in St. Albans, has just been announced as a finalist for EWIF’s (Encouraging Women into Franchising) Woman Franchisee of the Year Award for 2013, sponsored by NatWest. The awards recognise and celebrate women in the UK franchising industry.

Fiona set up her franchise business in March 2010 and she has seen it go from strength to strength.

Married with 2 children, her previous career was as a Chartered Surveyor. She came to a stage in her life when she really didn’t enjoy the pressure and the long hours, she wanted a new way of life. Running a franchise business seemed the perfect opportunity, particularly in the care sector which is notoriously difficult to set up from scratch due to legislation, etc. she wanted the back up and the continued support which a Home Instead franchise provides.

After her own personal experience of struggling to find good quality care for a loved one, she decided she wanted to change things; she wanted to make sure that she could give back to her own community and provide fantastic care as it should be, allowing older people with help, to remain in their own homes.

It appears that this is exactly what people are looking for, the majority of new clients come from recommendations from existing clients or care professionals who see the standard of care they provide.

Fiona comments on her nomination, “I am absolutely delighted to be a finalist for such a prestigious award and hope the awards inspire other women to take the franchise route to owning their own business. On her success she added, “We have expanded our original premises from one small office to four offices which has allowed us to increase our team and to add additional training and meeting rooms. I am also delighted to say that due to our phenomenal growth my husband has now joined me in the business, giving up his job in the City!”

Louise Harris, Franchise Director of Wilkins Chimney Sweep and also co-chair of EWIF said, ‘Reading through the entries I was totally inspired by the professionalism and achievements of these women; they’re all tremendous role models, not only for women in the UK franchising industry but also for the wider business community and they should be proud of themselves for having made the finals of the EWIF 2013 awards against, what has to be said, some pretty stiff competition from their peers. The aim of EWIF is to encourage more women into franchising and with examples such as these I’m sure we’ll see many more women choosing franchising as a career in the future.

The winners will be revealed at the Awards Ceremony which will be held at RBS House in London on 16 May 2013. The theme of the event will be ‘Inspirational Women’.
Home Instead which has over 125 franchised offices in the UK provides care services to older people to help them to remain living in their own homes. The company is leading the way not only for the quality care it provides, but for its successful business model and for the support it provides to its franchisees.
Home Instead Senior Care offers a management franchise opportunity and you do not need to have care sector experience.