2019 NZ Franchise Awards Results

10 November 2019 – Pukeko Rental Managers has been named New Zealand’s top franchise system in the 25th annual Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards. Sarith Thong, of the Coffee Club in Takanini, was named Supreme Franchisee of the Year.

The home-grown Pukeko has 23 franchisees around the country from Whangarei to Nelson. The new Westpac Supreme Franchise System of the Year was founded by David Pearse after some bad experiences which convinced him that ‘There must be a better way’ to help property owners find good tenants. Rather than expensive offices and multi-tier management structures, Pukeko’s home-based franchisees offer a personalised service to a limited number of property owners. ‘We don’t want to be the biggest, but the best,’ says David. Such is the quality of their service, Pukeko Rental Managers guarantees home owners a minimum of 50 weeks’ rental income per year.

Franchisee Sarith Thong and his wife Helen Lim opened The Coffee Club Takanini as a brand new store in 2013. The couple had previously owned a couple of lunch bars, but felt that joining a franchise would give them the backing of a well-known reputable brand and an opportunity to build something bigger. Having achieved success in Takanini, they also took over The Coffee Club outlet at Manukau Supa Centre earlier this year.

Franchising is now a 27.6 billion dollar industry in this country, with a turnover equivalent to 11 percent of GDP. New Zealand holds the title of the most franchised country in the world. One in 20.4 New Zealanders is employed in the franchise sector. (source: Franchising New Zealand survey 2017 by Massey University Business School and Griffith University).

2019 marked the 25th year of the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards, which are independently judged by the NZ Business Excellence Foundation. The Awards are organised by the Franchise Association of New Zealand and aim to recognise those franchise systems and individual franchisees who have achieved excellence.

This year’s Awards reflected the wide appeal of franchising throughout the country, with finalists coming from Te Awamutu, Takanini and Timaru; Wellington, Whanganui and Winton, Lower Hutt and the East Cape. The range of business types also reflected the breadth of the franchises available: everything from cafes to cleaners, childcare to convenience stores, bakeries to building maintenance, rental management to shoe repair.

The Awards also recognised the field management staff and service providers who support franchisees nationwide, as well as recognising the community involvement of many franchise brands.

In total, there were 17 awards presented this year including industry categories, field manager, community involvement and marketing awards. Read the full results - including details of all the winners and judges’ comments on what made them stand out.