FR A NCHISOR IN D EPTH : Sh er pa K i ds
Clubs in the London Boroughs of Barnet and Redbridge and opening a third in the London Borough of Harrow in April, after a recommendation received from the Head Teacher of one of the original two, just six weeks into operation.
“Local franchisees empower the brand at a local level, where their customers live. They develop trust, which grows market share.”
“There are millions of working parents in England who do not have the flexibility in their working hours to drop their children off and collect them from school at the times when schools open and close. During the school holiday period they are either forced to take time off work or pay for expensive child-minders. Breakfast, After School and Holiday Clubs provide a cost effective solution for parents because of the economies of scale that come with looking after children in a group setting. “Sherpa Kids England has an offering unique due the fact that our operating model is a combination of best practice from several countries under the Sherpa Kids banner. In practice this means that the standards of care and the experiences planned for the children by Sherpa Kids greatly exceeds that required by law in the UK. Furthermore, 2014 will see UK legislation relax standards even more – thus making the Sherpa Kids model a clear leader when it comes to quality out of ours school care.”
Dawn Engelbrecht, sKids – Safe Kids in Daily Supervision NZ “Safe Kids in Daily Supervision (sKids) started in 1996 and I took over with my business partner Bev in 2006. We were originally franchisees in the system (Bev since 1998, myself since 2000) so we had a clear vision of what the brand could do and where we wanted to take it. As of today we have 55 franchisees operating at 118 locations in New Zealand. “There is an increasing need for both parents to bring in an income and most working hours do not accommodate school hours which tend to be a shorter day (i.e. 9-3) and parents want to know that the people looking after their children are well trained professionals who put their child’s needs first. “Our strength is that we are local providers offering a local service on-site at their local schools supported by a National Support office. “We ensure that there are a variety of planned activities each day for the children to participate in as well as healthy afternoon tea and homework time and have
John Miles, Sherpa Kids Ireland with Co-Directors Dawn Engelbrecht and Vicki Prout
recently launched two new services; sKids Active which is a sports based life skills programme and iHub which is out of school care designed for tweens so our focus over the coming months will be to grow these services across the country.”
Genevieve Allen - Sherpa Kids South Africa “As one of only a few female franchisors in South Africa, I want to lead and inspire other women to take up the challenge of running their own businesses. After working in the education industry for 20 years, I have a passionate commitment to learning in South Africa. “As such, I was keen to join this tried and tested franchise business and offer an out of school hours programme that works. Sherpa Kids aims to establish quality onsite OSHC programmes throughout Southern African primary schools. These programmes are structured, engaging, fun and educational with an emphasis being on stimulating child care and not passive child minding. Sherpa Kids brings South African parents internationally benchmarked, structured and standardised offerings for before school care, after school care and care during school holidays. Sherpa Kids has licenced, fully accredited sites in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom that are successful stimulating child care systems that have been running for over 15 years.”
John Miles – Sherpa Kids Ireland “Following months of research I quickly came to the conclusion that the Out of Hours School Care market in Ireland was at best fragmented and at worst non-existent.
86 Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand
This definitely, for me, was the business opportunity I had been looking for – the chance to be the first mover in a fragmented market offered the challenge and potential rewards that I craved. “My first hurdle to jump was to answer the question of branding – how was I to take full advantage of this situation in the shortest possible time frame? It would take years to build up a recognised brand and the processes and procedures of running a business involving childcare looked onerous. I searched instead for a proven provider operating in another country and that is when I came across Sherpa Kids. It provided me with everything I required – a recognised international brand, set up support, business support and a whole set of rigorous process and procedure guidelines. “On my return to Ireland after meeting with the team in Adelaide I was good to go and feel extremely confident at this early stage of development that I have been provided with the tools and ongoing support that will be the cornerstone of a brand new service in the Irish market place.” To be a part of this exciting franchise opportunity locally in Australia or overseas contact Vicki Prout at: Phone: 08 8354 4886 / 0439 803 078 Email: vicki@sherpa-kids.com.au Web: www.sherpa-kids.com.au or if you have a business looking for international expansion call Vicki Prout at: Phone: 0439 803 078 Web: www.sherpagroup.com.au