Extra Help wins at Devon & Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Business Awards
In October, Extra Help announced that our managing director, Claire Robinson, had won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Devon & Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
As a winner of a regional award, Claire was entered into this year’s national Chamber Business Awards, along with her fellow, regional award winners and now we have more exciting news to celebrate!
Extra Help was chosen to receive the Game Changer Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by the British Business Bank, in recognition of Claire’s work in building the Extra Help franchise network. The virtual awards ceremony took place on 9th December.
Now in its 17th year, the event is one of the highlights of the British business calendar. Primarily, its role is to recognise and highlight the importance of business in delivering growth and prosperity for the UK and local communities.
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award is designed to recognise a business owner who has “transformed an idea into a successful, sustainable business by understanding their market’s key challenges, customers and the competitive landscape”. The judges were particularly impressed with Extra Help’s ability to continue to attract new franchisees and triple its profits, despite the impact of COVID-19 over the last 18 months. They commented that Extra Help is a “stand-out example of how firms can continue to flourish by adapting to the changing business conditions caused by the pandemic”.
As many of you know, Claire founded Extra Help in 2010, having recognised a gap in the market for flexible home-help services. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to build a strong, family-like network of 35 franchises across the country, all of which offer the same, valuable, home help and cleaning services to many different types of people, from the elderly and vulnerable to busy parents and time-poor workers. An astonishing 3.5 million homes now benefit from Extra Help’s home help and cleaning services.
“The dedication of the owner, Claire Robinson, has to be seen to be believed…her drive, ethos of support and strong business acumen are truly an inspiration.”
Sarah Howard, Chair of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)
“This year’s Game Changer has demonstrated the ability to be both flexible and resilient in order to protect and drive the business through the pandemic to ensure it stayed on a sound business footing….”
Warren Ralls, Managing Director, UK Network, British Business Bank
“I’m so proud of Extra Help and delighted that I was chosen to receive this prestigious, national award. However, I want to emphasise the fact that this award isn’t just for me, it’s for the entire network! My sincere thanks go to my franchisees for choosing Extra Help and making it the success it is today. It is thanks to their hard work, initiative and resilience that we’re able to provide the services that make such a huge difference to people’s lives. We’re all looking forward to 2022 and working together to ensure Extra Help provides a helping hand to even more people across the UK.”
Claire Robinson, Managing Director and Owner of Extra Help
The Awards attracted nominees from organisations of all sizes, from many different sectors across the country. We’re extremely proud of Claire for not only winning a regional award but impressing the judges to such an extent that she was deemed worthy of a national one.