Puddle Ducks announces franchisee of the year

Leading baby and child swimming school franchise, Puddle Ducks has announced its ‘Franchisee of the Year’ at its annual conference and awards ceremony.

Held at the prestigious De Vere Cranage Estate in Cheshire, the award was presented to franchisee Victoria Rowley, an ambitious businesswoman who became the company’s youngest franchisee when she joined age 24.

As well as this prestigious award, Victoria was recently named Business Woman of the Year at the Kent Business Awards. This award reflects Victoria’s business successes within her local community. The Puddle Ducks network is delighted to see all her hard work being recognised with these incredible awards.

Now 32, Victoria has built a hugely successful Puddle Ducks franchise with a 52 strong team thanks to her dedication, vision, drive and her support for fellow franchisees. She now operates out of 24 pools and has a turnover in excess of £1.3m.

Having successfully overcome the challenges the pandemic brought to the swimming industry, Victoria has also tackled a personal illness which left her with a lengthy journey to recovery, involving having to learn to walk again.

Jo Stone, co-founder and managing director of Puddle Ducks commented: “Victoria is a shining example in our network. She has endless ambition and desire to achieve her goals and is constantly looking for new ways of supporting children through their swimming journeys while growing her business. She is selfless in her approach and despite facing personal challenges has never wavered in the support she offers to fellow franchisees and Head Office.  For us Victoria encompasses everything that makes a franchisee successful – drive, determination and innovation – and we are proud to call her our Franchisee of the Year.”

Victoria added: “I am absolutely delighted to have won these awards, not least because at Puddle Ducks, I am part of a network of so many incredible entrepreneurs who inspire me to achieve more every day.  These awards are really a team win as I could not have achieved it without their fantastic support and enthusiasm for what we do. I am incredibly proud of their commitment to delivering the best learning experience for our babies and children, especially those children who missed out on lessons for so long during the pandemic.  We want every child to develop a life-long love for swimming safely and are passionate about delivering this to as many youngsters as possible.”

The Puddle Ducks franchise was founded in 2002 by Jo Stone and Tracy Townend and teaches over 25,000 children to swim every week across the UK.  The company has been awarded 5* Franchisee Satisfaction for the 9th year running and offers a highly successful business model alongside on-going Head Office support.

Several franchise territories are currently available including:

·       London (and surrounding area)

·       Surrey

·       Cambridgeshire (and surrounding area)

·       Buckinghamshire

·       Birmingham / West Midlands / Warwickshire

·       Hampshire

·       Devon

·       South Wales

·       South Scotland

For more information about becoming a Puddle Ducks baby and children swimming classes franchisee, visit their profile.