diddi dance

diddi dance Essex receives CAA Gold Accreditation

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The team at diddi dance, the brand behind the much-loved preschool dance classes, are extremely proud to announce their franchise diddi dance Essex has achieved Gold accreditation from the Children’s Activities Association (CAA). The CAA is the only not-for-profit, industry-led association to set and raise standards in all organised children’s activities across the UK and this achievement clearly showcases the team at diddi dance Essex’s passion for excellence.

Set-up by leading industry experts in 2015, including diddi dance Founder Anne-Marie Martin, the establishment of the CAA (a Community Interest Company) has revolutionised the children’s activities sector. After Anne-Marie completed the accreditation process for diddi dance in 2016, she decided to offer the same accreditation to each diddi dance Franchise. This past month Anne-Marie & diddi dance were thrilled to personally accredit diddi dance Essex.

Over 200,000 children a week now attend a CAA member activity and it is a truly fantastic endorsement for diddi dance Essex to be part of this ground-breaking national initiative. Their commitment to achieving Gold shows their dedication to demonstrate to their industry peers and their fellow diddi dance franchisees that they excel at what they do as well as giving parents the reassurance they deserve when selecting the best classes for their little ones.

Caroline Gunn and Jennifer Storey opened diddi dance Essex in January 2011 and have gone on to grow it into one of the most recognisable diddi dance brands in the nation. Becoming a Gold accredited member of the CAA is the latest achievement in the brand’s 6-year success story supporting dancing toddlers weekly.

It is staggering to learn that before the CAA, there was no national, independent association in the UK for the children’s activity sector as a whole. Through the development of the CAA Code of Practice and via their thorough accreditation, for the first time, parents can now easily make simple, informed decisions when choosing from the wealth of children’s activities out there. Just by asking whether the provider is a CAA member, a parent or carer can get reassurance on important issues such as insurance, health and safety, criminal record checks, training, qualifications, class content and much more.

As one parent said regarding the CAA –

With so many clubs and classes to choose from it’s so hard to know which are the best and what I should be asking when I leave my children in the care of a class leader. In the past I just wrongly assumed kids’ activities must have to be regulated. Knowing that the CAA has asked those important questions to help keep my child safe is fantastic – so now I just look for their logo!”

Having achieved Gold CAA accreditation means that diddi dance Essex has been independently verified as having met or exceeded all the necessary elements of the CAA Code of Practice. Assessed by Dr Amanda Gummer PhD, one of the UK’s leading experts in child development and Founder of Fundamentally Children, the CAA’s official independent accrediting organisation, this accomplishment offers parents peace of mind when selecting an activity from the myriad of providers out there.

Anne-Marie commented on the accreditation process and Caroline & Jennifer’s success:

Using the CAA accreditation system to ensure all our franchisees are performing to not only our high standards but also a nationally recognised association too is so important to us. It’s fantastic seeing our second franchise gain gold accreditation. Caroline and Jennifer have always run a fantastic franchise and this just validates it to their customers, giving them peace of mind.”

Adding to this Caroline & Jennifer of diddi dance Essex said:

We have worked very hard and are so delighted to have achieved our Gold Children’s Activities Association (CAA) Accreditation. There are literally hundreds of children’s activity groups out there and it’s really important for us to be able to say to parents, that with our Gold Accreditation, they can be assured that by choosing our classes we have all the relevant insurance, DBS, Health & Safety policies and equipment checks in place as well as having undergone rigorous assessment of our teaching methods and techniques. Being able to offer parents that peace of mind regarding our activity provision puts us above the rest!“

Congratulations again to Caroline & Jennifer and their franchise. If you would like more information about diddi dance Essex visit the Facebook page here or read all about them by clicking here.

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New diddi dance Franchise – South Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Ayr & Surrounding

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We here at diddi dance HO would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest franchisee, Wendy, who will be running the new franchise – diddi dance South Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Ayr & Surrounding.

Wendy’s first classes are starting in August 2017 and will be:

  • Mon 14th @ 9.45am – Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Ayr
  • Tues 15th @ 9.45am – Prestwick South Parish Church Hall, Prestwick
  • Wed 16th @ 9.45am- The Howard Centre, Kilmarnock
  • Fri 18th @ 9.45am – Loans Village Hall, Ayr
  • Fri 18th @ 1.45pm- Castlehill Parish Church Hall, Troon
  • Sat 19th @ 11.30am – Mearns Castle Golf Academy, Newton Mearns

To book your toddler onto any of the above classes fill in our Book a Free Trial form and address it to Wendy, or you can email her directly by clicking here 🙂

A little bit more about Wendy:

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Hi. I’m Wendy and have recently moved to Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. I have the pleasure of sharing my life with my partner Stephen and my little dog Pepe. Family is the most important thing in my life and I love spending time with my nephew’s, Ruan and Finn, and my little niece, Ruby. I have always loved sport and come from a very sporting family, and my interests continue with taking part in sports activities and watching them live and on the TV. I love my holidays and have recently come back from my first ever ski trip.

What did you do before diddi dance?

For 13 years I have worked in my father’s financial services business at St. James’s Place Wealth Management. It’s been an interesting time and I have gained lots of valuable experiences from it, but I have always wanted to work with children, so now is the perfect chance to move into my chosen field with his retirement on the horizon. Most recently, I have also attained my Certificate in Montessori Pedagogy, where I studied as a distance learner through the London College of Montessori.

Why did you choose a diddi dance franchise?

I have wanted to work with children for a long time, but have never found the right avenue to go down with it. I also want to be self-employed and run my own business, so when I was told about diddi dance, it really did tick all the boxes. The ethos of diddi dance is exactly why I wanted to go into the teaching profession, and now I have an unbelievable opportunity with diddi dance. Exciting times ahead!

What are you most excited about for your new business?

Giving children the chance to explore with their own bodies, feel the freedom we should all feel with dance and music, and for them to have as much fun as possible to the funky styles of dance. I am looking forward to meeting new people and getting the grown-ups having as much fun as the children do!

And finally, which diddi dance theme are you looking forward to the most and why?

Irish, as people always think I’m Irish as I have red hair! Need to work on the accent though 🙂

Wendy’s classes will be starting with our Bollywood theme so don’t forget to book your FREE trial today!

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diddi dance Camden and Islington are now diddi dance North London!

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As of today, diddi dance Camden, Crouch End, Finchley & Surrounding and diddi dance Islington, East Haringey & Surrounding will be merged back together under the management of Anuschka Socher.

The newly combined franchise will now be called diddi dance North London again and we couldn’t be more excited!! 🎉🎉

diddi dance Islington’s previous owner, Charlene Dinger, had this to say about her recent sale of her diddi dance:

Bittersweet feelings today as I say goodbye to my ‘diddi dance’ franchise! Have officially sold my business and am moving on to the next chapter. It’s been a 7 year journey that has shaped me and made me grow in ways I never would have known! Thank you to everyone that supported me & encouraged me – you were all an important part of that process and I couldn’t have done it without you! Lots of diddi love! 💕💕

Anuschka initally took over the North West London franchise in December 2015 from Charlene when she first moved back home to Canada and had been running it very successfully ever since. When the opportunity arose for Anuschka to take on the rest of the original North London franchise she jumped at the opportunity. We can’t wait to see what she does with her new extended business and how it continues to grow.

 

To find out more about diddi dance North London click here and to book a FREE trial in one of Anuschka’s classes click here.

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diddi dance Bristol takes home EWIF Award

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Earlier this month diddi dance attended the 2017 NatWest EWIF Awards as we were finalists for 5 awards out of the 8 award categories.

We were then even more thrilled when Emily Norman, owner of diddi dance Bristol, took home the award for Young Woman in Franchising of the Year. This marks the first industry award for a diddi dance franchisee to date, and we couldn’t be any more ecstatic that it was Emily who received the recognition.

We asked Emily what it meant to her to win this award, and here is what she had to say:

It is an honour to have even become a finalist for an award like this but to win is incredible! I haven’t been part of the franchise world long but I couldn’t be happier, with all the support I get from diddi dance Head Office I have been able to grow my business to what it is today. I do what I do because I love my job but I am so happy that my hard work has been recognised by not only by Head Office, who nominated me for this award, but EWIF as well.”

At diddi dance, we have always been very proud of what Emily has accomplished in just her short time as a franchisee with us. Emily took on her franchise in 2014 at the age of 22 and since then has helped it grow to one of our more successful franchises at diddi dance. She has achieved her Silver CAA accreditation, expanded her territory twice, worked closely with local schools to provide PPA cover and been nominated & won multiple preschool activity awards during her just over 2 years running the business including the diddi Developer award at the 2016 diddi dance Conference.

diddi dance Founder, Anne-Marie, had this to say about Emily and her achievements so far:

[She] is one of our youngest franchisees but her age hasn’t hinders her drive or ambition at all. She works with great maturity & attention to detail and has grown her business with huge success not only through the usual channels of promotion given but through her own initiative and creativity. She’s driven, determined and a real asset to our network.”

For those unfamiliar with the awards they were created by EWIF  to provide a boost for franchisors, franchisees and employees. It boosts their brands and gives them an extra accolade to help promote their businesses and give them an edge over their competition. Clive Sawyer, the Founder and CEO of EWIF, said of the awards:

The EWIF awards are a fantastic way to help women in the franchise industry come together and celebrate and recognise both their own and each other’s achievements. Many of them don’t even realise that most of their achievements are so good because, for them, it’s just part of what they do every day. Many of them dedicate their working lives to supporting others in their businesses and we want them to be celebrated and recognised for this.”

Once again, well done Emily for everything you have achieved this year!

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diddi dance are Finalists at 2017 EWIF Awards

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diddi dance are thrilled to have received 5 nominations at this years NatWest EWIF Awards.

Out of the 8 categories available to nominate women in, diddi dance submitted entrants for 5 of them and were thrilled to find out that they were shortlisted in all! When we asked diddi dance Franchisor Anne-Marie how she felt about the company and its franchisees receiving this amount of recognition she said:

We are so proud to have all of our nominations shortlisted in the EWIF awards. We heard this has been their highest number of entries to date so it shows that our nominations are of a really high standard and recognised as quality in the franchising industry”

Find out who got nominated for what and learn a bit more about each of them below…

diddi dance Founder, Anne-Marie, is a finalist for Woman Franchisor of the Year and when asked about her nomination she said:

Running a franchise network holds a lot of responsibility even with all the fantastic help I have from my colleagues. To have been shortlisted for this means so much personally as growing diddi dance from a single class to now has been such a journey and helping & supporting other women find a flexible work/life balance makes me proud of them all.”

Anne-Marie started diddi dance back in 2003, launched the first pilot franchises in 2006 and officially launched diddi dance Franchising in 2010. Now with over 40 franchisees run diddi dances from Aberdeenshire down to Plymouth her 1 dance class has grown to be a nationally recognised preschool activity everyone wants to send their toddlers along to. Anne-Marie previously won this award in 2015, so we are excited to see if magic happens again!

Rebecca, diddi dance’s Franchise Director, is a finalist for Woman Franchise Employee of the Year. She had this to say about her nomination:

It feels great to be recognised for all the hard work I put in behind the scenes at diddi dance. I really love and appreciate these awards because they reocgnise woman in a predominantly male driven sector. I can’t wait to see who takes home what!

Rebecca has been with diddi dance since 2011, starting off as a teacher for the company she moved into the franchising side of the company in 2012 as a Regional Franchise Manager before moving into the Franchise Director role in 2014. Now she helps to maintain the brand national image, supports the franchisees and continues to assist with the growth of the company. She previously won this award in 2015 for her work with diddi dance so we shall see if she can bring home the win again this year.

Emily, from diddi dance Bristol, is a finalist for Young Woman in Franchising of the Year. She had this to say about her nomination:

I feel honoured to be chosen as a finalist and never would have expected it! diddi dance is my dream job and I enjoy working hard to keep growing my business here in Bristol.”

Emily took on her franchise in 2014 at the age of 22 and since then has helped it grow to one of our more successful franchises at diddi dance. She has achieved her Bronze CAA accreditation, worked closely with local schools to provide PPA cover and been nominated & won multiple preschool activity awards during her just over 2 years running the business including the diddi Developer award at the 2016 diddi dance Conference. We hope we can add to the awards for you this year 😉

Charlotte, from diddi dance Colchester, Maldon, Halstead & Tendering, is a finalist for New Woman Franchisee of the Year. She had this to say about her nomination:

The past 18 months have been hard work but really fun with diddi dance and has gone way beyond my expectations of what it would be like owning and running a franchise.  It has been exciting times for me and I am delighted to have even been nominated for this award and to have reached the final! I have my brilliant diddi customers to thank and also fab teachers on board who make our team what it is and of course Head Office who are really supportive in every way.

Charlotte became a franchisee with us in 2015 and completed her first year with the highest ever turnover for a new franchisee who hadn’t taken over a already running franchise, which to us was a great feat in and of itself. She has since gone on to expand her territory multiple times, take on 5 teachers to help her run 15 classes and continues to look to the future all while helping to care for her family. She even won the diddi Debutante award at the 2016 diddi dance Conference. Can’t wait to see if she will win in her category!

Natalie & Dawn, from diddi dance Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield & North Walsall, are together a finalist for Woman Franchisee of the Year. They had this to say about their nomination:

It’s an absolute pleasure and very unbelievable that we have been nominated for this award.
It’s been such a joy and lots of hard work which doesn’t always seem like … work.
It’s so rewarding being part of a team that delivers such fun and quality sessions that encourage little ones to get moving.
We feel very lucky to work along side each other as mother and daughter, we have always had a fantastic relationship but we are even closer now sharing the same passions.”

Natalie & Dawn became our second diddi dance franchise partnership, but first mother/daughter partnership, in 2015 and since then have taken our franchising world by storm! They were a finalist for the mumandworking Franchisee of the Year award last year and won the diddi Driver award at the 2016 diddi dance Conference. They achieved so much within their first year just the two of them and continued that progress into their 2nd year we can’t wait to see how they continue to grow their franchise in years to come. Maybe this will be their first industry award!!!

To see all the nominees and awards just click here.

The winners will be announced on 16th May, 2017 so we will be keeping our fingers crossed for you two!

For more information about the EWIF Awards or to attend and see what it is all about for yourself just click here.

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diddi dance Shortlisted in Top Franchise Awards 2017

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diddi dance Franchising has been shortlisted in The 2017 Workingmums.co.uk Top Franchise Awards for all 3 categories we were nominated for – the Supportive Franchisor Award, The Franchise Award for Innovation and the Family Friendly Franchise Award! The Awards, sponsored by HSBC and in partnership with Forward Ladies, recognise franchisors both big and small who have empowered women in business – not only by providing a successful flexible business model, but by giving franchisees the advice and support they need to succeed. For more information and to see who else has been shortlisted just click here.

We are thrilled to be nominated again as we were nominated for both the Supportive Franchisor Award and the Family Friendly Franchise Award last year, and we won the Family Friend Franchise Award!

When asked about the award nominations, franchisor Anne-Marie had this to say:

We are absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted in all 3 categories we entered. We work so hard to try and give our franchisees the flexibility, support and best ongoing training we can so for workingmums.co.uk to recognise that is such an honour. Giving others the opportunity to find a work/life balance is also important to us, it isn’t easy running a business but we hope with our supportive network we ease it slightly.”

Winners in all categories will be announced on 16th May 2017, so watch this space in May!

To be part of an already award winning dance franchise in 2016, hoping to continue that streak in 2017, get in touch today!

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New diddi dance franchise – Wigan & Leigh!

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We here at diddi dance HO would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest franchisee, Rebecca, who will be running the new franchise – diddi dance Wigan & Leigh.

Rebecca’s first class in starting in November 2016 and will be:

  • From the 7th November – 9.45am to 10.30am every Monday at Tesco Extra Leigh Community Space. The Loom, Derby Street, Leigh WN7 4BA

To book your toddler onto any of the above classes fill in our Book a Free Trial form and address it to Rebecca, or you can email them directly by clicking here 🙂

A little bit more about Rebecca:

Tell us a bit about yourself and your family:

My name is Rebecca and I live in with my husband, daughter and son aged 5 and 3. I love to work with children and love anything creative and that can express and bring out little personalities.

What did you do before diddi dance?

Before I became a mum I studied dance and drama, since leaving college I have worked in the media Industry. When I had my children I took time out from work to be a stay at home mum. This gave my insight to the importance of early years education and social development as my daughter was a very shy child.

Why did you choose a diddi dance franchise?

diddi dance is the perfect option for me as its such a great way to get the under fives moving, socialising and learning invaluable skills in preparation for starting school. I love to help other mums how ever I can, us mums have to stick together.

What are you most excited about for your new business?

I am so excited to meet all the wonderful children and carers in the Wigan area, to see them each week and watch as they learn new skills and grow. I will be there to see the milestones of sharing and caring for others as well as having a jolly good time.

And finally, which diddi dance theme are you looking forward to the most and why?

I absolutely love the disco theme as I am such a throwback anything retro and I’m on board. However I am very excited about country dancing as it takes me back to my school days of country dancing at the spring and summer fairs.

Rebecca’s classes have started with our Ballroom theme so don’t forget to book your FREE trial today!

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diddi dance featured in Top Franchise Best Practice Report!

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Franchise Awards logo_RGB_winnerAfter winning the Family Friendly Franchise Award at the 2016 Workingmums.co.uk Top Franchise Awards diddi dance was contacted by Workingmums.co.uk to be featured in there new Best Practice Report.

Workingmums.co.uk’s Best Practice Report 2016 underlines how good family friendly working is not just about having the right policies in place, but about creating the right culture.

The report, which is based on detailed case studies of the winners of the 2016 Workingmums.co.uk Top Franchise Awards, identifies what makes a difference in family friendly working.

The awards celebrated the best family friendly franchisors and franchisees. Sponsored by Lawbite, they recognise franchisors both big and small who have empowered women in business – not only by providing a successful flexible business model, but by giving franchisees the advice and support they need to succeed.
To download the report for yourself just click here and find our feature from page 15.

To be part of our award winning franchise network get in touch today!

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diddi dance Has Great News Coverage

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This summer a lot of attention has come our way and we wanted to share our recent “fame” with you 😉

First, founder Anne-Marie had a spotlight feature in Nursery World about how diddi dance came to be, what our classes are all about and our CAA accreditation. To read the full feature click here.

Next came an interview in Toddle About magazine and on their website finding out from Anne-Marie where diddi dance came from, what kind of franchisees we are looking for and her helpful ideas for starting your own business. To see the interview click here!

Then Little London talked with Anne-Marie all about her business, diddi dance, including how she started it, being a working mum and what is in the pipeline for diddi dance. Read the interview here.

Lastly, Anne-Marie did a guest blog for KalliKids about how to get and keep children active. It talks about how diddi dance can help get children moving, but if you can’t make it to diddi dance how you can still get those healthy, exercise habits started at home! Read her blog here.

To learn more about diddi dance just click here!

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