Growth by franchising helped Natural Welsh Water to clinch award
Growth achieved thanks to an expanding franchise model sealed the top prize in the 2012 Shropshire Business Awards for Natural Welsh Water.
The plan to expand the business through franchisees around the country helped the Oswestry business to grow by around 20 per cent last year, and the company hopes that its triumph at the annual awards scheme could lead to similar success in 2013.
With 10 franchisees on board dotted around the country – from Glasgow to Gloucester, and Derby to Darlington – managing director Mike Webb hopes to see the same rate of expansion next year.
He said: "It has been quite a quiet year for franchising generally, but in the last eight to 10 weeks we have seen a flurry, and taken on another three.
"Some of that is down to the fact that we were Company of the Year at the Shropshire Business Awards, and nobody was more amazed at that than me considering who we were up against. To win was fantastic, and increased our franchise sales."
He added: "We have never stood still and we are always trying to increase business, and we have taken on more staff and added to our telesales team.
"We hope business will increase again in 2013. We are coming out of a double-dip recession, and it seems to be growing, and a bit more confidence is coming in.
"I haven't set myself a target for the year, but we would like to increase by around 20 per cent again. Our target is to have 32 franchisees after five years, and we are 18 months into that now and we have 10."
Natural Welsh Water faced competition from Shoothill in Shrewsbury, Heaven by Deborah Mitchell in Shifnal, and Shrewsbury-based Hatfields Jaguar, for the top prize at 2012's business awards.
