Right at Home Wimbledon and Putney hits the headlines
26/09/2011
Article from MAKING MONEY magazine, published October 2011, page 111.
TRAIL BLAZER – Andree Kerr has gone from a career in Human Resources to a management franchise in the home care sector.
Andree Kerr, Right at Home’s new franchisee for London (SW13-SW20) has big plans for her business. She says: “I want to be as ethically profitable as possible by managing the delivery of a home care and assistance service within the following context:
- · Right at Home is a local company providing home care and assistance for older and vulnerable members of our community.
- · Our home care assistants are dedicated to improving quality of life, going that extra mile to ensure we deliver an outstanding service.
- · We believe in a duty of care, both to our employees and to our service users.
- · Continuing professional development is encouraged and all staff are trained in up-to-date moving and handling techniques, first aid and food hygiene.
- · We offer a minimum of 60-minute care packages, rising to 24x7 hours covering companionship through to complex personal care needs.
- · We wrap this up in a value for money pricing structure.
“My business is of course in its fledgling stage,” added Andree. “As time goes on, the challenges will change.”
WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?
Taking time away from the corporate career Andree had been following in 2007, after her mother’s health deteriorated, was pivotal to Andree discovering franchising and the Right at Home franchise.
She held Human Resources positions for 20-plus years, beginning as an HR generalist and progressing to HR leader – her last position being with PricewaterhouseCoopers, working in its HR division as an account director, where she managed a portfolio of clients across Europe.
In 2011 Andree was looking to re-enter the workforce. She explains: “I have had a number of career breaks over a 30-year period and have never encountered any barriers in returning. This time was different. I was older and my business experience and transferrable skills were now an issue. Comments like ‘you are over-qualified’ and ‘you have too much experience’ had me feeling that potential employers were looking for a reason not to give me a job.”
Andree decided she did not want to go back on the corporate treadmill. She wanted to wake up in the mornings, jump out of bed with enthusiasm and a great sense of purpose, looking forward to what she had to do every day.
Andree knew she didn’t want to go back in to HR consulting – the easy choice. Instead she wanted a complete change; working for herself with the support of a great brand behind her. Franchising became the obvious choice.
Andree used the services of a franchise recruitment specialist to help her in her franchise search. This helped shape her thinking, focusing her attention on what she would enjoy doing and derive most satisfaction from.
Two of Andree’s ‘ownership criteria’ were to join a franchise that was not well established in the UK, with a franchise agreement over five years, and to be part of a team that would help her blaze the trail for the brand, which would logically afford her much more support than if she was the 21st or 71st franchisee.
IMPRESSED
At a franchise exhibition in March 2011, Andree met Ken Deary, the UK master franchisor for Right at Home, and she was impressed.
“Ken is a successful businessman who knows franchising extremely well,” says Andree. “He sets a high standard in ethical codes of conduct, which is extremely important to me. We had shared similar experiences in finding out about and delivering care to our family. As the due diligence process progressed, it became clear there was a strong overlap between my values and those of Right at Home, personified by Ken Deary.”
Andree was also impressed by the professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication of the Right at Home team in Preston, adding: “There is not anyone on the team who is not fantastic.”
Andree is still being impressed by Right at Home. Since her comprehensive two-week training course she has had phone calls from the founder of Right at Home, Allan Hager, and the COO, Brian Petranick, welcoming her into the business. She thinks that’s pretty impressive.
For more information on Franchise Opportunities with Right at Home, follow the link at the bottom of the website or email franchising@rightathomeUK.com
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