diddi dance

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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diddi dance Receive 5 Star Satisfaction!

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For the past few years diddi dance has worked with Smith & Henderson to have a Franchise Satisfaction Survey delivered to our franchisees so we can obtain anonymous responses from our current franchisees to help improve our franchise network. Now, for the 3rd year running we have achieved a Satisfaction percentage in the 90s and have been awarded the 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction Award once again!

Smith & Henderson describe the survey process as:

We invite your existing franchisees to complete our confidential online Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark survey. We guarantee that franchisees’ responses will be anonymous, so they can provide honest feedback. On average 77% of franchisees complete the survey.

We use this feedback to help you benchmark your training and support against other franchisors, identify key priorities and over time, strengthen your relationships with franchisees and your support package.

Top franchisors, based on the feedback, are then shortlisted for the Best Franchise Awards – which we won last year!

This year we maintained our score of 95%. To see the full breakdown of our survey just click here.

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

Welcome a new franchisee to Leeds

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For those of you who may or may not know Leeds & Harrogate franchisee Cath Hale recently made the though decision to sell the Leeds part of her franchise. After putting the business up for sale a wonderful friend and previous diddi dance teacher came along to take it over, Julia Grantham!

Julia has taken over the management and direction of all classes and sessions running in the Leeds area and will be expanding further into the North and Central Leeds area in September and onwards.

Classes now run by Julia currently taking bookings for September are:

  • Tuesdays @ 10:00am, Horsforth St. Margaret’s Parish Hall
  • Thursdays @ 10:00am, Roundhay Parochial Hall
  • Fridays @ 1.30pm, Horsforth St. Margaret’s Parish Hall

Feel free to email Julia directly now via [email protected] to join any of the classes already running in the area or to express your interest in having a class open near you!

A little bit more about Julia:

Tell us a bit about yourself and your family:

Hi I’m Julia, mum of two young boys and I love music and dancing! I play the piano in my spare time, and have attended  various music and dance classes with my little ones ever since they were babies. I think I enjoyed it even more than they did if that’s possible! Tee hee!

What did you do before diddi dance?

I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home-mum for four years which is how I found out about diddi dance, and before that I was a nurse.

How were you affiliated with your new diddi dance franchise before taking it over?

I am taking over from Cath Hale, who taught both of my boys diddi dance classes. The chance came up to teach a class for her, which I did for one term before she decided to sell the Leeds part of her business to me!

What made you want to take on an already established diddi dance?

I knew the class, loved it, and felt that with an existing client base I couldn’t really go wrong. I know so many mums who have been to these classes, and everyone I have met in the diddi dance team are enthusiastic, friendly and supportive. Teaching diddi dance doesn’t feel like work. I get paid to dance and sing with little ones and nothing beats the smiles you see on their faces when you teach them. 🙂

And finally, what are you looking forward to the most with your new diddi dance franchise?

I’m excited to see and be able to develop the business and bring it to new places, venues and have my own flexible time-table. But mostly I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know a whole bunch of new children and seeing their progress and enjoyment of the classes. diddi dance is all about having fun being active; whilst dancing to some funky tunes. I can’t wait for September!!

For more information about current classes or to express your interest in a class opening near you please visit Julia’s Facebook page – diddi dance North  Central Leeds!

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