New Woman Franchisor of the Year at the NatWest EWiF Awards 2022

We are really pleased to share the brilliant news that Camilla Culshaw from The Teepover Club, a client of Ashtons Franchising Consulting, has won the……. “New Woman Franchisor of the Year” at the NatWest EWiF Awards 2022.

Camilla launched The Teepover Club® in September 2019. “It creates magical and memorable luxury teepee sleepovers, luxe picnics, pamper parties, and new for 2022, children’s wedding corners, styled to perfection either for birthdays, special occasions or ‘just because’.

From the beginning Camilla tells us she had dreamt of franchising the business, to grow it across the country, however this had been more of a five-year plan, but with the teepee industry booming, even during the pandemic, and increasing requests for parties in various areas, she decided to take the plunge sooner rather than later.

Researching “how to franchise a business” Camilla signed up for the BFA’s Prospective Franchisor Course and found the Franchise Consultants at Ashtons Franchise Consulting. After a conversation with Management Consultant Nick Williams, regarding how to “franchise my business”, Camilla signed up to work with us to help her develop her children’s party sleepover business into a franchise opportunity. She worked with our Franchise Development Consultant Phil Mowat from February 2021 and had her 1^st franchisee sign up and start in June 2021, and then her 2^nd in September.

EWiF (Encouraging Women into Franchising) hosted their 12^th annual prestigious awards ceremony at NatWest’s Bishopsgate event venue at the end of June 2022.

EWiF is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. They provide advice and guidance to anyone wanting to break into franchising – either to start their own business, or to expand through this route. Their remit is threefold: to encourage women to buy a franchise if they want to run their own business, to encourage others to franchise their existing operations, and to help franchisors attract more women into their networks. With regional meetings, an annual awards ceremony, annual conference and much more taking place for their members, EWiF is a valuable community and source of information for so many.

These awards, an annual event since 2010, recognise the pioneers, innovators and visionaries within the franchising industry. They celebrate women who push boundaries, set new standards and overcome adversity, by allowing them to showcase their successes over the past year within their award applications.

Phil says: “From Day 1 of working with Camilla, it was obvious she was going to make franchising her business a success! She was a real pleasure to work with on her franchise development. It’s no surprise that her franchise network is already growing, as she was always “on it” in terms of getting what was required done, she listened to my advice and implemented the action plan as we progressed. She has some amazing ideas and turns those ideas into realities. I look forward to seeing The Teepover Club grow across the UK”.

Camilla told us: “Winning the New Woman Franchisor of the Year 2022 Award felt absolutely incredible. I arrived on the day just thrilled to be there amongst the other finalists and sponsors, I didn’t for one second expect to win. Having read up on the inspiring women who had won this award in previous years, I was so flattered to have even made the shortlist. Gaining this recognition and reassurance for the hard work I have put in so far has made me more determined than ever to grow my franchise to the next level. With an already established brand in the South Coast, we’re currently focussing on growing with additional franchises in the local area to meet the increasing demand for our parties, before continuing to expand across the country”.

Helen from EWif also told us: “This year, we’re thrilled to have awarded Camilla Culshaw of The Teepover Club for her contribution to franchising: Her entry really showed how much she contributes to our industry. She’s a very worthy winner”.

MD, Helen Mansfield, said “The 2022 winners’ stories are uplifting and inspiring in a unique way showcasing how businesses have thrived in some of the most challenging years in recent history. Heartiest congratulations to all this year’s winners.”

More about The Teepover Club franchise.

Could you follow in their footsteps and franchise your business? Find out in our quiz.