diddi dance Northwich, Sandbach & Surrounding has a new owner – Laura Makinson! She will be taking over the management and direction of all classes & sessions running currently in the area and will be launching some new ones this upcoming September.
The classes that will be running from 4th September are:
Mondays:
- 9:45am – St John’s Church Centre, School Lane, Hartford CW8 1NP
Tuesdays:
- 9:45am – St Mary’s Parish Centre, 2 New King St, Middlewich CW10 9EB
Thursday
- 9:45am & 10:50am – Polar Palace Play and Party Centre, 10 Road One, Winsford CW7 3PR
Friday
- 9:30am – Barnton Memorial Hall, 30 Townfield Ln, Barnton, Northwich CW8 4LH
- 11:30am – Holmes Chapel Scout Hut, Parkway, Holmes Chapel Cheshire CW4 7BA
- 1:45pm – The Venue, Gadbrook Road, Rudheath, Northwich CW9 7JL
Saturday
- 9:45am – Elworth Scout Hut, Chapel Street, Sandbach CW11 1DS
- 10:00am – St John’s Church Centre, School Lane, Hartford CW8 1NP
Feel free to email Laura directly now to book a FREE trial or secure your spot in any of the above classes for September via laura.makinson@diddidance.com.
A little bit more about Laura:
Tell us a bit about yourself:
Hi I’m Laura and 37 years old. I’m married to my husband Neil a mum to Will (12yrs old), Phoebe (7yrs old) & James (4yrs old). In September our youngest will be starting school and it will be the first time in 12 years that I will not have a little one at home. It’s going to be emotional and thankfully the opportunity of becoming a diddi dance franchise owner came along at the perfect time.
Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster with far too many lows unfortunately, but what it has taught me is to put my priorities in the right order. I want to be able to take my kids to school and be there for them at the end of the day, plus that when I spend my time working it is doing a job that I’m passionate about. The skills I have learned from previous jobs and from being a diddi dance teacher give me the confidence that being a diddi dance franchise owner will be a job I enjoy and gives me the flexibility to be the mum I want to be for my children.
I love being active too and play in the Cheshire Squash league, as well as playing part time for a netball team. I enjoy running regularly too and find it’s a great way to clear my head. I’m not a qualified dancer but I do love to dance and especially love teaching young children.
What did you do before diddi dance?
I have always loved textiles, art and fashion. I studied at Leeds University with the goal of going on to be a buyer. I graduated with a 1st Class Degree and went on to become part of the buying team for NEXT home. I loved my time at NEXT and left after having my first child. I moved from Leicester back to where I grew up, in Northwich. I went on to work for Eurocamp as a Holiday Advisor. The opportunity to become part of the Eurocamp marketing team arose and I started off as a Marketing Executive, working my way up to Sub Brand Co-ordinator. I worked at Eurocamp for over 9 years and when the opportunity came to take voluntary redundancy whilst on maternity leave I took it. I wanted to spend more time with my children and find a more rewarding job. I met Emma Hayward after attending diddi dance classes with my children and learned there was a job vacancy to teach. To be honest, I really didn’t think I would be offered the job but so happy Emma took a punt on me. I love teaching and the timing of Emma selling part of her Cheshire territory is perfect and I really look forward to the challenges of being a franchise owner.
How were you affiliated with your new diddi dance franchise before taking it over?
I have been a diddi dance teacher since November 2016 and taught twice a week at Hartford & Barnton plus teaching weekly at a preschool in Cotebrook.
What made you want to take on an already established diddi dance?
I personally feel there are less risks of taking on an already established diddi dance franchise. There are performance results to review and analyse and I have had the opportunity of talking about the business with the previous owner, which help with learnings and decisions to move it forward. It is also a region that I live in and know which really helps and as a teacher I have great target market knowledge which will be useful for gaining and retaining customers.
And finally, what are you looking forward to the most with your new diddi dance franchise?
Having a job which fulfils my desire of being a business owner, but without the associated risks by being part of a franchise. I love working individually but it’s great that you are also part of a team of ambitious ladies that all support each other. I love that it will test me, push me and that you can keep growing your business. There will be tough times but when it works it will be so rewarding. I love that there is so much variety too, marketing, teaching, admin, training, dance routines to learn and more – I don’t think there is ever the chance of feeling bored with diddi dance – it is going to be all systems go!
