Meet baby Thea!
You may have noticed that I’ve been absent from a few public events recently and you might have heard from the Coconut team more than me! My new baby, Thea, arrived on 10th May so I have been taking time out for a bit of rest and relaxation. As I take more of a step back and let the new Managing Director, Paul Clegg, take the reins for a while, I thought I’d keep you updated with everything that’s going on inside, and outside of, Coconut. I don’t think the words ‘rest and relaxation’ really exist when you’re a business owner!
The Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) awards took place in May and I was sad to miss it due to my arrival being a little later than planned! However, I was involved in the judging process for the awards this year and personally read the entries we received. We received a record number this year and, as a fellow woman in franchising, it’s great to see so many women coming forward to shout about their achievements and the work they do on a daily basis. Having attended the awards for a number of years now, I’m always surprised at how many of the winners believe that the work they won the award for is just part of what they do. So many go above and beyond for their franchisees, staff and customers that they don’t even realise what they’ve achieved! It’s encouraging to see more and more people coming forward for the awards this year. I might talk about women in business and franchising in a later blog as it seems to be becoming a much hotter topic!
Mr and Mrs Mansfield!
After a Coconut Wedding at the very start of June, Helen Thresh became Helen Mansfield and the summer season has now kicked off at Coconut. As many people begin to wind down for the summer, although we’ll be taking short breaks in turn, the team will be working hard to ensure that each and every one of our clients is up-to-date and ready to take on the busy Autumn recruitment period. Most businesses experience peaks and troughs in their busy periods but, at Coconut, we seem to be busy all year round. If it’s not client work, it’s events or Coconut promotion or developing our services for clients. While our client’s prospects lounge around on the beaches, we’ll be working tirelessly to make sure everything’s ready and in order when the masses flock back to England to start work again in September.
I may not be in the Coconut office over the Summer but I certainly won’t be stepping away from the business! I still have so many ideas whizzing around my head so I will always check in with the team to make sure they come to light and, of course, to keep them on their toes. I look forward to warm summer days, BBQ’s and, eventually, a return to full-time work in time for the winter chill to set in!