King of the pool scoops top national business awards

Australia’s largest pool and spa maintenance franchise, Poolwerx, cemented their place as one of this country’s rising stars of business at the prestigious Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) Excellence in Franchising Awards last night, taking home two top gongs, including the much coveted Established Franchisor of the Year.

The franchise beat back stiff competition from around the country to also claim the Field Manager of the Year title, thanks to Business Development Manager Stephen Halls from Queensland .

CEO and founder of Poolwerx, John O’Brien, said he was delighted with both awards, coming off the back of 10 years of solid growth and a conscious policy of putting people first.

“This is an amazing achievement for the business and great recognition for the brand but the thing I am most proud of is knowing Poolwerx provide an opportunity for people to achieve a greater level of success in their lives through the experience of running their own small business,” he said.

“Taking out the Established Franchisor of the Year is certainly a nice pat on the back for a job well done but I don’t claim the win as my own because none of the success we have generated would be possible without the sum of all our Poolwerx family,” Mr O’Brien exclaimed. 

“Early in my career I learned about the three legged stool concept from franchising great Ray Kroc : a stool has three legs but take one away and it ceases to function. This is still relevant to our business two decades later and I know without the collective effort of our Franchise Partners, Poolwerx Support Centre Team and Partners-in-Profit (suppliers) none of this would be possible. Everyone deserves credit for this award win.”

Poolwerx first won the Franchise of the Year back in 2004 and despite continued growth and launching the brand overseas, Mr O’Brien was reluctant to enter again until a key milestone had been met.

“When we first won the award 12 years ago we were a service only business but I knew what my vision was for the company so I vowed we wouldn’t enter again until we had 100 stores and had progressed from a mobile-only to a multi-tier business model.

“We’ve now smashed the 100-store goal, will have over 400 mobile vans in the next 12 months and are rapidly expanding overseas, which makes this year’s win so much sweeter.”

100 seems to be the magic number for Poolwerx in 2016 with the company recently achieving not only its 100th store opening nationally, but also welcoming its 100th franchise partner and generating $100 million in combined revenue globally.

“In Australia there’s over 1200 franchise networks operating, however very few of them have 100 stores or more,” Mr O’Brien said. “Achieving this 100-store benchmark propels us into a different league now – we’ve stood the test of time.

“These Awards are testament to the fact Poolwerx is on the right path and that the future will continue to be bright. We have a business that results in satisfied, profitable Franchise Partners, experienced and committed support team members and a vision that sets the trajectory of the company on the up and up.”

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