New Lewes District franchisee is huge success

New Lewes franchisee is huge success

The Outdoors Project are delighted to welcome Anthea Daly to the team as a franchisee for the Lewes District. Anthea joined us back in March and after an initial flurry of activity to get set up for Easter, the wind was taken out of our sails with the lockdown announcement, presenting us all with a degree of uncertainty about the future and some challenging times.  

Thankfully, restrictions were eased in July which meant that our Summer holiday clubs could go ahead, albeit with adjustments to allow for COVID guidelines. Anthea demonstrated enormous resilience and tenacity to set up her franchise in an extremely short space of time. She had 3 weeks to find a suitable venue, recruit and train a team, not to mention sourcing and buying all the necessary equipment as well as navigating COVID procedures. With some help and guidance from HQ her Summer holiday clubs sold out and feedback was positive and supportive from parents and children alike.

A mother to 3 young children, Anthea realised that commuting to a full time job in London was not sustainable and went in search of the ‘holy grail’ of being around for her children whilst also having a successful and rewarding career.  She was aware of The Outdoors Project as her son had attended some holiday clubs previously and when she received an email highlighting franchise opportunities her interest was piqued. “Right from the start I believed in the brand and the proposition, it seemed like no other clubs offered anything like it and I was able to see first hand how much the children enjoyed it.” 

The only thing holding Anthea back was her concern over whether she could engage with the children in the same way that she had seen the other franchisees do. HQ were on hand to allay her fears, “I started working with some of the clubs to build my confidence and I soon realised that it wasn’t a scary as it seemed. The sessions and activities are so well planned, tested and organised that you don’t need to be a children’s entertainer to deliver them. And so, after much thought and due diligence I signed the franchise contract and got that excited tingly feeling all over again.”  

Anthea’s journey to being an Outdoors Project franchisee has not been plain sailing, but with determination, support and guidance from HQ she could not be more thrilled with her franchise journey so far, delivering a much needed service for children and parents in the Lewes area.

“Being a franchisee is as I had hoped it would be, I have the freedom of running my own business while still having the support of the HQ team when I need it. Whilst I am still in the early stages of my journey, I have just completed my first round of clubs which were a HUGE success so now I am busy planning the future growth of my business knowing I have the backing of a great brand, a unique proposition and the support of a great team.”