Auditel celebrated achievement and success at their National Conference on Friday 21st November, held at the De Vere Cotswold Water Park.
The De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel, a stunning lake-side venue was enhanced by a crisp frost and bright sunshine as it hosted Auditel’s National Conference. The 150-strong gathering of Auditel Franchise Partners, Head Office team, and guests were all warmly welcomed by Auditel Managing Director Chris Aston, ahead of a day (and evening) of insight, education, celebration and fun.
Amongst the highlights and insights shared by Chris in his opening address, was the great success of the collective turnover of the Auditel Franchise Partner network themselves, with group performance up 12% on the previous year. There were several ‘milestone awards’ for Partners moving into their 10th, 15th and in a few cases 20th years of successful Auditel franchise ownership. All testament to the great longevity and commercial benefits that can be achieved through investing in becoming an Auditel Partner.
Insightful Sessions
Auditel, since 1994, have evolved their business service range and today’s ‘triple-stream’ opportunities encompass Carbon Solutions, Energy Solutions and Procurement & Cost Management. These ensure that Auditel have not only a broad range of services that can help businesses with managing and reducing costs whilst transitioning towards Net Zero, but also that the ability to deliver results across all of these areas provides massive competitive advantage and benefits to both clients and the Auditel Franchise Partners alike.
There was a menu of sessions for delegates to choose from covering Net Zero legislation, Energy Management, future opportunities and industry trends, as well as a session around personal health and mindset management. Speakers included guest from the British Standards Institute (BSI) and The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The last session brought all the attendees together for a captivating talk by renowned Jewellery retailer Gerald Rattner, on his high-profile PR gaffe that brought about his business and reputation downfall, but also the heart-warming story of how he overcame adversity to achieve new business success – with many insights to take away that can be applied to many situations.
Aston closed the Conference with thanks to all involved with making the day the success it had been. He later added “I’m very proud of the whole Auditel business. My team has been fantastic in putting together these events that seem to get better and better every year. Feedback from everyone I’ve spoken with has been wholly positive and everyone seems to have picked up several ‘nuggets’ from the various sessions that they are keen to put into action within their own businesses.
I’m delighted to have seen that the collective performance of the franchise network continues to grow. We continue to look to evolve the Auditel service range and move with the opportunities, and its great to see our franchisees are able to capitalise on this, whilst making a positive difference to the planet too. With our focus across carbon, energy and procurement & cost management, we have an incredible ‘future-proof’ business and the opportunities for new franchisees joining now and into the future are huge. Its an exciting time to be part of Auditel, or to become part of the ‘family’”
Awards and Achievements
The evening agenda kicked off with a Gala Dinner with the attendees all in splendid formal dinner attire. With the room buzzing following a delicious menu and a fun quiz being run in the background, it was soon time for the annual awards to be presented.
‘New Franchise Partner of the Year’ was won by Andy Buxton, who has enjoyed good success in his own business since starting in Summer 2024. In addition, Andy has made significant contributions to the network through involvement in the Energy team within Auditel.
Nicky Sinker was awarded the ‘Rising Star’ award, which recognises her achievements in building a significant business whilst also opening opportunities in professional services business sectors.
Whilst financial performance is not often the biggest objective for much of the Auditel network with work/life balance, control, flexibility, enjoyment and purpose being all part of the benefits mix for the Auditel network, commercial achievement is still a significant point of celebration. The ‘High Performance’ Awards were won by Gillian Gibbon (highest individual) and ‘Connect Consultancy’ (highest ‘Practice’), as the Auditel franchise owners with the largest turnovers.
Special Recognition Awards were delivered to Richard Smith, Paul Harper, Sean Bingham, Nick Scull and Jon Alford for their various involvements in developing key new services offerings in CBAM, PAS 2080 and for broader network support recognition.
Finally, the two major Awards: Auditel’s ‘Consultant of the Year’ and ‘Consultant’s Consultant of the Year’, and it was double joy for Martene Coe as she scooped both! As someone who contributes generously to the network, Martene, who joined Auditel in 2017 was a worthy winner.
She says “I was not expecting to win an award, let alone two! I love being part of a collaborative and supportive network and am always happy to contribute where I can and support others. I came from an accounting background and so whilst comfortable with numbers, felt less comfortable on the client engagement and management side but over the years as my services knowledge and expertise has developed, so has my confidence and this seems to resonate with clients who themselves engage through trust. I’ve found I’ve become far more comfortable in managing clients now – though I’d never regard myself as a ‘sales person’!
Martene continues “Over the past several years I’ve been able to ‘give back’ to the network, and whilst it just feels natural to do so, that I’ve been recognised by both the Head Office team, and also my peer group is just wonderful and I’m so grateful to have won these awards. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow my business and help others in the years to come.”
Become Part of the ‘Auditel Family’
If you want to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself, then explore becoming part of the Auditel Business Community today. Learn how you can develop the business that fits your circumstances, business goals and personal aspirations with different start-up packages to suit.
Never has there been a better time to make a meaningful difference, the demand is massive and the commercial and moral benefit opportunities are huge. Speak to Nick Tubb or the recruitment team. Enquire for more information.
