Green Acres Rewards Franchisee Excellence for 10th Year
Waikato’s Dorn Duo Going Great Guns with Green Acres

Hamilton couple, Andrea and Barry Dorn have won the 2006 Green Acres Master Franchise of the Year Award.

This is the 10th year in which Green Acres has presented the hotly contested prize. The Dorns will receive a cup, wall plaque and a $1000 travel voucher, but more importantly they get 12 months of boasting rights over 900 Green Acres sub-franchisees and 35 master franchisees from the Bay of Islands to Invercargill.

The year has been a good one for Waikato franchisees, with Craig and Shona McDonald carrying off the 2006 Hire a Hubby Franchisee of the Year Award.

To take out the Master Franchisee award, which is judged by three senior Green Acres executives, Andrea and Barry had to demonstrate excellence in every aspect of their lawn mowing, property maintenance and car valet business, which operates in Hamilton and the greater Waikato area. Key criteria include sales and revenue growth, franchise management, local advertising, corporate image, client feedback and business administration.

This year’s awards were the most keenly contested ever. “We have a points system for the awards with a maximum score of 20,” says Green Acres CEO, Andrew Chisholm. “Six master franchisees scored 16 points this year, but the Dorns scored 18 to make them clear and deserving winners”.

“Andrea and Barry were successful in meeting their sales targets in a tough environment. With a large geographical area to cover, the Waikato is a notoriously difficult area to manage. In saying that the Dorn’s have established an excellent team of sub-franchisees servicing Hamilton and all of the satellite towns in the Waikato. Client demand and feedback consistently points to a smooth operation. They’re certainly worthy winners.”

Originally from South Taranaki, Andrea and Barry shifted north to Hamilton in 1989. The couple were Managing Directors of a joint venture partnership with Fletcher PlaceMakers in Hamilton. Then, five years ago, they made a lifestyle choice to take on a Green Acres Master Franchise and haven’t looked back since.

“We had come from a corporate background and were looking for a change,” says Barry. “We were also aware that the home services industry was one of the fastest growing businesses overseas, and that this trend was certain to hit New Zealand. We chose Green Acres because is a strong recognised brand and we are delighted with the growth and demand for our services”.

The Dorns attribute their success to good old-fashioned virtues: strong business ethics and experience. “We are driven to succeed in business and also take pleasure in our sub-franchisees achieving their goals. Green Acres, as New Zealand’s leading franchise group, offers proven systems and support and we believe success breeds success.”

So what advice do they have for others? The answer is typically succinct, professional and to the point: “Anyone thinking about a change in career, or wanting to run their own business, should seriously consider joining Green Acres,” says Barry. “We are an award winning franchise that offers the complete package of professionalism, training, customer base, marketing and on-going support. Join us now!”

ENDS

About Green Acres:
Green Acres Franchise Group Limited is largest franchise operation in New Zealand and New Zealand’s leading home service business with close to 1000 franchises performing over one million services each year for over 70,000 regular clients. It has eleven franchise services nationwide including painting, plumbing, pool valet, ironing, lawns and garden, mobile dog washing, home cleaning, commercial cleaning, mobile car valet and carpet care services.

Gordon Campbell: On John Key’s Agenda For The Nation

There seemed to be three main components to John Key’s speech:

a) tax cuts largely paid for by a hike in GST
b) mining in national parks and on conservation land, while building more roads.
c) giving firms easier access to the r&d from Crown Research Institutes, so that business can continue to get the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the research that keeps them competitive.

After all, corporate welfare is always such a blessed thing – its only social welfare that corrodes enterprise and ambition. More>>