October 2019
Tickled Pink with our latest award nomination
We are absolutely thrilled, tickled pink in fact, that the Pink Spaghetti franchise has been named as a finalist in the 2019 Best Franchise Awards.
This means so much to us as the awards are based on feedback from our franchisees. Earlier this year they completed a confidential survey, rating us on a number of aspects of our franchise such as initial training, ongoing support, their relationship with us (their franchisor) and if they would recommend us as a business opportunity to someone interested in joining our franchise family.
The franchises who performed best in the survey were then put forward as finalists.
We are nominated in the Business to Business category and will learn if we are winners at the annual Best Franchise Conference in November.
Pink Spaghetti Marks a Decade of Franchise Success
We were absolutely thrilled to mark our 10th year in business last week (17th October) and were delighted that we were able to share the celebration with our franchise network, albeit remotely!
Our virtual PA services franchise story started when we (Caroline and Vicky) met at our children’s swimming classes. One thing led to another and the idea for a business that would empower us and allow us to empower other women was hatched.
We are really proud to have built an enviable reputation for success and franchisee satisfaction and ours is the only PA services company in the UK to feature in the Elite Franchise Top 100.
It’s amazing to see our ambition for Pink Spaghetti being realised ten years down the line. We now have a network of over 40 franchisees who love being part of our success. Indeed, we’ve had a 5* rating for franchisee satisfaction from WorkBuzz for the last four years, achieving a 2019 rating of 96%. We were also named as winner of the Working Mums Franchise Award for Innovation 2018, demonstrating our continual search for better ways to help our franchisees grow and develop.
As part of our birthday celebrations we sent personalised biscuits to all our franchisees and we all took time out of our days to sit back and reflect on what we have all achieved – and to enjoy our biscuits!
At HQ there was also a large cake and a glass of fizz.
A huge thank you to our team here at HQ and to our fabulous franchisees. Here’s to the next ten!
Caroline Gowing and Vicky Matthews
September 2019
Five start out on a new adventure!
Five new franchisees have started their Pink Spaghetti businesses this month following initial training at head office in Cheshire. The new territories covered are Birmingham, run by Sue Richards, Wolverhampton run by Lyndsey Toogood, Mole Valley in Surrey, covered by Olivia Lucas, and Salisbury & Andover (Sarah Lawrence). Joining them for training was Kelly Walsh who has taken over ownership of the existing Weybridge and Woking territory.
Everyone is raring to go after three full days of training, and they are already starting to meet up with potential customers and getting out there networking. We’re sure that with their enthusiasm they will achieve the success they deserve, and look forward to welcoming them for follow up training in a few weeks time.
August 2019
Pink Spaghetti franchisee doubles her money
Kelly Walsh
We can now announce that the first resale of a Pink Spaghetti franchise has taken place, and proved very successful for all concerned.
Laura Dodsworth, founding franchisee of Pink Spaghetti Staines and Woking has sold her business as a vibrant going concern to Kelly Walsh. We are pleased to welcome Kelly into the Pink Spaghetti family and we wish Laura all the best for the future.
Kelly joins us with a wealth of experience in marketing, recruitment and customer service, as well as working as a PA for her husband’s company. She is actively involved in volunteering, both at her sons’ school as chair of the PTA, and also as director of the charity ‘Educate Ethiopia’.
Laura has been a fantastic asset to the Pink Spaghetti network for the three years we’ve known her. She is moving back to an employed role having sold her franchise for significantly more than double what she initially paid for the business.
We now look forward to supporting Kelly on her Pink Spaghetti journey.
We have franchise opportunities available around the country, perfect for entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, business-minded people who are looking to set up a business from home. Could you be our next franchisee?
A trio of new franchisees!
We have got not one, not two but three brand new franchisees to announce!
From September 2019, Birmingham will have its very own Pink Spaghetti personal assistant service and you will find another covering the Mole Valley and Epsom area. Then, from January, we’ll welcome Pink Spaghetti Derby.
Thanks to these new additions to our franchise family we are now able to be that all-important, much coveted 25th hour in the day for more people than ever before. Our network of passionate, motivated, highly skilled personal assistants are ready and waiting to put their love into the jobs you haven’t got time for.
We’re looking forward to announcing further details about these new franchisees but, in the meantime, you can email help@pink-spaghetti.co.uk to find your nearest team. We already have over 40 operating nationwide.
If you think you could be that extra pair of hands for the busy, hard-working people within your community, don’t forget that we still have franchise regions available. We are always looking out for entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, business-minded people to join the Pink Spaghetti family – could you be our next franchisee?
July 2019
Two Pink Spaghetti franchisees sign up for a second term
Catherine
Michelle
The latest good news from us here at Pink Spaghetti is that two of our longest standing franchisees have signed new five year contracts!
Michelle Collins from Pink Spaghetti Chester & North Wales and Catherine McKinnon from Pink Spaghetti South Manchester both established their businesses in 2014.
Catherine brought a diverse skillset, obtained via a career in business management, when she became South Manchester’s virtual PA five years ago, and Michelle joined us when she decided to leave her public sector role to pursue a more flexible way of living.
Since then both women have built successful businesses of their own that fit around family commitments. Michelle was even named our Franchisee of the Year for 2018. We are delighted to have got to know Catherine and Michelle well in the past five years and look forward to supporting them to develop their businesses even further in the years to come.
If you think you could be that extra pair of hands, that 25th hour in the day for the busy, hard-working people within your community do get in touch. We are always looking out for entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, business-minded people to join the Pink Spaghetti family – could you be our next franchisee?
June 2019
Pink Spaghetti achieves 5* rating
Pink Spaghetti is once more enjoying the taste of success – we have been awarded a 5* rating for franchisee satisfaction in this year’s WorkBuzz Franchise Satisfaction survey. In fact, this is the fourth year in succession that we have won the top rating.
WorkBuzz is an independent franchise research consultancy who work with franchisors to help them to improve their operations by collecting, analysing and reporting back anonymous feedback from their franchisees.
In the survey franchisees use a five point scale to rate their franchisor on six key dimensions – Training & Support, Culture & Relationships, Leadership, Value & Rewards and General Satisfaction.
We are delighted to have achieved a franchise satisfaction benchmark score of 93% and a general satisfaction score of 96%. Of particular note is that 100% of our franchisees said that our brand helps to differentiate their business from competitors.
Vicky Matthews, Co-Founder of Pink Spaghetti, says: “We’re delighted by this latest affirmation of our business model. We believe that our franchisees are happy because they’ve joined a successful and growing family, where they are supported and nurtured. As franchisees, they have full control over what they do – they can enjoy their work while still living the life they want.”
Top 100 Listing for Pink Spaghetti
We are delighted to have been named as one of the UK’s top franchise opportunities in the respected Elite Franchise Top 100 2019. This is our first year appearing in the Top 100, coming in at number 56.
The prestigious listing recognises some of Britain’s best franchises. Companies are ranked according to a wide range of criteria covering financial performance, innovation and contribution to the community.
What we really like about the list is that it pitches some of the giants of franchising, such as McDonalds, Subway and Snap On Tools against relative newcomers such as Pink Spaghetti.
In the words of Elite Franchise ‘be inspired, be in awe and be aware that the brands that make it into the Elite Franchise 100 are simply the best’…we’ll take that!
It goes without saying that we are only as successful as our amazing franchisees. We have created the model and, yes, we provide the support, but we would not be where we are today without our hard working franchisees, each of whom has created their own bespoke business around the Pink Spaghetti brand.
Pink Spaghetti now has 40 franchises operating across the UK.
We are always looking out for entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, business-minded people to join the Pink Spaghetti family – could you be our next franchisee?
February 2019
Pink Spaghetti are pleased to announce we are now a member of EWIF (Encouraging Women into Franchising). This is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing women who are looking to buy a franchise with advice and guidance.
December 2018
Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, had the honour of meeting Michelle Collins from Pink Spaghetti Chester & North Wales last week while she was at Downing Street as part of a delegation from Small Business Saturday. She had already been a guest at a reception in the House of Lords two days previously, as one of last year’s Small Biz 100, to promote the day. You can read about her exciting week in the Chester Chronicle.
October 2018
On 31st October Pink Spaghetti were announced as one of only 3 finalists in the Best Franchise Awards. This is the third year in a row we have been finalists and we are very proud that this is based on the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark Survey completed by our franchisees.
September 2018
Vicky was featured on the Victoria Derbyshire progamme on BBC2 talking about part time workers, see the video here.
Pink Spaghetti’s founders, Vicky and Caroline, have been featured in a new article on workingmums.co.uk talking about the unlimited support we give to franchisees. Read the article here to see why Pink Spaghetti won the 2018 Working Mums award for Innovation.
August 2018
Emily O’Neill from Pink Spaghetti Maidstone & Sittingbourne has written an article which has been featured on the Talented Ladies Club website. Read the full article here…
July 2018
Pink Spaghetti are excited to announce a new partnership with NatWest to offer funding to start a franchise for those who require it. NatWest are experts in helping franchisees achieve their dreams, and were the first bank in Britain to set up a dedicated franchise department. Contact us for details if you are interested in a franchise and need funding.
June 2018
Some great PR for Emmie from Pink Spaghetti Worcester & Redditch in Worcester News.
May 2018
Award Winning Work at Home Franchise!
On May 17th we won the Working Mums Franchise Award for Innovation, and the Support Team at head office who respond to our 35 franchisees could not be more thrilled. This award was judged by HSBC, Aquabridge Law and Federation of Small Businesses.
“The judges felt that Pink Spaghetti had carefully identified future challenges to their model of unlimited support and adapted their business model to ensue this remains a core commitment to franchisees. They catered to a wide and comprehensive range of learning styles, and had created an engaging business model and structures to ensure they kept ahead of emerging trends.”
Co-founder, Caroline Gowing said “We know that the support we offer our franchisees is vital to our business, and we have always had to think ahead to ensure this support continues as we grow. The use of technology and continual improvements in our training, as well as new software and an amazing Support Team all mean we can not only continue to deliver the support we want, but actively improve what we offer. We are very proud to have won this award.”
April 2018
Owner of our Reading Franchise, Debbie Whiteley, has been chosen as a finalist in the Business Mother of the Year Category at The Thames Valley Venus Awards. Dubbed by Channel 4 as “The Working Mother’s Oscars” these awards celebrate the vital contribution that women in business make to the local, regional, and national economy.
More than 100 guests attended the semi finals at Newbury Race course on 17th April. The award is voted for, and Debbie is delighted to have found our she is now one of three finalists. She said “having been nominated in March for the Thames Valley Santander Venus Awards as Business Mother of the Year, I was thrilled to have been shortlisted to the semi-finals. To my total surprise I was then announced as one of the finalists, that was amazing. I feel my business has quickly been recognised for the quality service it offers, the awards have opened so many doors for me to meet new people.
It was really inspiring to brush shoulders with so many talented women at the Award venue, Newbury Race course. The suite was packed with women competing in different categories from Influential & Inspirational Woman of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year to name a few. Can’t wait to hear the result in the final, watch this space!”
There were 11 Semi-Finalists who were decided by The Reading Chronicle, the public vote will decide who will win at the final on 8 June at the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading football club.
Good luck Debbie!
Shortlisted in Two Franchise Awards
Pink Spaghetti is thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted for the Working Mums Top Franchise Awards in two categories – The Supportive Franchisor Award and The Franchise Award for Innovation.
We find out on 17th May whether or not we have won. This is an important award for us – Working Mums promote values that are core in our business, offering a flexible business to people who are highly competent, but want to work around their families.
March 2018
On a cold and snowy day, over 30 franchises did not let the weather stop them from attending our 5th annual franchise conference. Held at our offices in Cheshire, the 2 days are eagerly awaited by the franchisees and the head office support team. Lots of networking took place, new franchisees met existing, we celebrated a birthday, lots of business success, and we launched new services, partnerships and more.
The conference is a key date in our calendar, one we work to for several months beforehand to ensure it offers great value to all our franchisees. This year we had speakers from Xero, Beans Accounting, a wonderful session by Hayley Caine from Selling Made Easier and Money Penny came to introduce themselves as we have become an affiliate. 
In the evening of the first day we all got together for our awards dinner. Franchisee of the year was named as Laura Dodsworth, who owns our Staines territory. And there were three awards for Michelle Collins who owns our Chester & North Wales territory, highest turnover, consistency and the People’s Choice Award, voted for by the franchisees. We had two new franchisees of the year, Nicola Case and Hannah Johnstone, who both started their business in 2017 and have proved to be very successful indeed.
February 2018
Pink Spaghetti Mole Valley, Reigate and Epsom in the SBS Winners Club
Hannah from Pink Spaghetti Mole Valley, Reigate & Epsom, and her employee Amy had the opportunity to meet Theo Paphitis at the SBS event in Birmingham on February 23rd. Hannah won Theo’s ‘Small Business Sunday’ in March last year after only two months in business, and the opportunities it has given her have seen her business go from strength to strength.
Pink Spaghetti in the Daily Mail
Pink Spaghetti were mentioned in a Daily Mail article on February 8th about low cost franchises. Andrea, from Pink Spaghetti South Hampshire, was quoted, although we’d like to point out they overstated her age!
One of our new franchisees from January has had her press release picked up by the local press – a boost for any new business. Jayne covers the Sutton Coldfield & Lichfield area. Click here to read the full article.
On 5th February, two new franchisees launched. Karen now owns the Worthing & Brighton territory, and Jo owns Guildford & Farnham. Both ladies completed training at the end of January and built a firm friendship during the training. We wish them both well and look forward to supporting their businesses over the coming months and years.
January 2018
5 new franchisees have joined Pink Spaghetti this month. Having completed the initial training it is always an exciting time launching a new business, and we wish them well!
From left to right: Angie from Pink Spaghetti Bexley, Dartford & Gravesend, Debbie from Pink Spaghetti PA Services Reading & Surrounds, Imogen from Pink Spaghetti PA Services Bournemouth & Poole, Emily from Pink Spaghetti PA Services Maidstone & Sittingbourne and Jayne from Pink Spaghetti PA Services Sutton Coldfield & Lichfield, we wish you the very best of luck with your new businesses!
Our Preston franchisees have been featured in January in ‘Lancashare means Business’ a local Lancashire publication.
September 2017
Four new franchisees went through training and launched their business this month. 
From left to right: Michelle Kaberry, Peterborough & Surrounds, Caroline Gowing Co-founder, Debbie Tilley, Crystal Palace, Croydon & Caterham, Vicky Matthews, Co-founder, Nicola Case, Milton Keynes & Surrounds and Lisa Cox, Mid Staffordshire.
Two of the new franchisees were featured in their local news, following press releases that are prepared. Inside Croydon featured Debbie, click here to read the full article, and Lisa Cox was featured by her local press, click here to read the full article.
August 2017
We are proud that our franchisee covering Chester & North Wales, Michelle, has been announced as one of the 100 UK businesses to be featured in their Small Business Saturday campaign. She will have a whole day with her business being promoted across the UK, in the run up to Small Business Saturday in early December. Read the full press release from The Guardian.
April 2017
Abbie, our franchisee covering Loughton and Surrounds has been featured by the website We Are Virtual Assistants about her reasons for starting her own business as a Pink Spaghetti PA. Originally working in IT for a well known high street brand, this was quite a career move for Abbie. Read all about her journey here.
The same website featured Ann, who owns the Luton and Bedford
franchise. Ann had been made redundancy whilst on maternity leave when she got in touch with Pink Spaghetti. She talks about overcoming challenges, and loneliness and how she discovered the go-getter inside her. Read her full story here.
March 2017
Annual Pink Spaghetti Conference and Awards
Franchisees came from around the conference at the weekend, for our annual conference. Familiar faces greeted each other, and new faces met each other, there was lots of networking, learning and laughter with two very full days.
Our awards dinner took place in the evening, with several awards being handed out. Our overall winner of franchise of the year went to Andrea, from South Hampshire. Andrea has been a franchisee for 4 years, and has grown a very successful franchise, with plans for further expansion this year. New franchisees of the year went to Abbie from Loughton, and Nicola from Bishop’s Stortford, with highest turnover going to Michelle from Chester.
Theo Paphitis picks Pink Spaghetti PA for Small Business Sunday!
New franchisee Hannah, was selected by Theo Paphitis on Sunday night as one of the 6 businesses out of the thousands that enter as part of his Small Business Sunday. Each week, Theo reviews all the businesses who tweet 
him, looks at the businesses and retweets the 6 lucky businesses he chooses. Every year, all those who get selected are invited to meet Theo, collect their certificate and get a photo from this inspiring business leader.
Hannah is just 2 months into her new business, and is already doing well, so this is the icing on the cake. Well done Hannah!
January 2017
Pink Spaghetti in the News!
The Sun Employment section has written an article featuring Pink Spaghetti to coincide with Work from Home Week. Laura, (pictured left) talks about why she chose the route and how it helps to balance family life. Read the full article here.
Our franchise opportunity and business have been featured by Elite Franchise Magazine, click here to read the full article, featuring franchise Catherine, from South Manchester.
Michelle, franchisee from Chester and North Wales was interviewed about her business – read Hobnobbing with Michelle here.
Brand new franchisee Laura, from Staines and Woking, who only started in September, talks about why she decided to go with our franchise. Click here to read her article.
Mumpreneur Inspiration featured Caroline and Vicky and the business in an article, click here to read it.
Debbie and Hannah launch their own VA Franchise with Pink Spaghetti
Debbie from Wimborne, Salisbury & New Forest, along with Hannah from Mole Valley, Reigate & Epsom completed their initial training in January, along with
their follow up training in February. Both ladies came from very different backgrounds and types of career, but both did brilliantly, and have already got paying customers. Debbie has been thinking about buying a Pink Spaghetti Franchise for some time, and we are pleased to say, she is pleased she has finally made the leap from paid employment. Hannah was on maternity leave, and her old career did not give her the flexibility she needed with her 6 month old son.
December 2016
Pink Spaghetti Win Award at Best Franchise Awards!
We are delighted to announce that our franchise Pink Spaghetti was awarded the ‘Best New Entry’ award at the Smith & Henderson Best Franchise Awards 2016, sponsored by RBS.
Not only that but we have received a ‘5 star franchisee satisfaction badge’ which means that our franchisees themselves gave us an overall score of 99% in the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark.
We were very excited to meet Facebook Director, Ed Couchman, who presented us with the award yesterday.
We are so proud to have received such amazing feedback from our franchisees and to be presented with this amazing award. It is wonderful to see the business we created helping other hard working mums to set up their own flexible businesses, working from home, building their own client base and developing new skills.
Steven Frost, Director of Smith & Henderson, said: “Pink Spaghetti has shown itself to be amongst the very best in the country and we congratulate them on this achievement.”
November 2016
Pink Spaghetti Finalists in the Best Franchise Awards!
Research experts Smith & Henderson have today announced the finalists in the 2016 Best Franchise Awards sponsored for the third consecutive year by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
What makes these awards unique is they are based on feedback from thousands of actual franchisees. To be considered as a finalist, the company must previously have taken part in the Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark survey; in the survey, franchisees are asked to anonymously score the franchisor on qualities such as initial training, ongoing support, relationship with their franchisor and whether they would recommend their franchise to a prospective franchisee – in this survey we reached an overall score of 99%.
Other finalists in the awards are:
Under £25k investment:
diddi dance
Jittbugs
Pink Spaghetti
£25k – £100k investment:
ActionCOACH
EweMove Sales and Lettings
TaxAssist Accountants
£100k+ investment
Home Instead Senior Care
McDonald’s Restaurants
Right At Home
Director of Smith & Henderson, Steven Frost said,
‘We would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to these franchisors who have already shown themselves to be amongst the very best in the country. All the finalists have received outstanding feedback from their franchisees, who completed our independent and confidential Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark survey, which uniquely identifies the franchises that live up to their franchisee’s expectations. We congratulate them on this achievement.”
He continued, “The winners of the 2016 Best Franchise Awards will be announced during the Best Franchise Conference to be held in Milton Keynes on Thursday 30th November 2016. More information and tickets are available from: www.bestfranchiseawards.co.uk.
Susie, our new franchisee from South Cheshire, had her press release picked up by her local newspaper. Click here to read the article in full.
October 2016
Pink Spaghetti are proud to have been awarded Smith & Henderson’s 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction Award 2016, gaining an overall satisfaction score of 99%. This independent survey is undertaken by Franchisors across the UK to determine how satisfied its franchisees are across the 5 areas of training & support, the franchise system, culture & relationships, stewardship, and value & rewards. This means that Pink Spaghetti have achieved above average results across all areas, and will be shortlisted for Smith & Henderson’s national awards ceremony later in the year. As these results have come from the franchisees themselves, it is very important to us indeed and we are extremely proud.
One of the franchisees that went live in September, Sandra from Horsham, had her press release picked up with a great article telling people about her new business.
On 10th October, our final 2 franchisees of the year launched. The two franchisees sailed through the training, and have worked hard since to ensure everything is up and running for their launch day. After intensive training, covering everything it takes to be a Pink Spaghetti PA, they hit the ground running and will begin to build their new businesses. Rachel is the franchisee for Stockport, Wilmslow & Macclesfield and Susie is the franchisee for South Cheshire. In the photo, from left to right, Rachel, Caroline, Vicky and Susie.
September 2016
On 26th September, 3 new franchises launched. After intensive training, covering everything it takes to be a Pink Spaghetti PA, they hit the ground running and will begin to build their new businesses. Andra is from the Horsham, Crawley & Haywards Heath franchise, Laura from Staines, Woking & Surrounds, and Emma is from the Windsor, Slough & Maidenhead franchise. Also shown in the photo are Florence, the training manager, and Caroline and Vicky, founders.
In mid September we appointed a Franchise Training Manager, Florence Roberts. Florence comes to us with a varied background, both as a business owner and networker, as well as superb social media skills and she is perfect for Pink Spaghetti. As the business grows, and we continue to offer unlimited support to our franchisees, this role is vital to ensure the whole franchise network is kept up to date with their skills. She has been welcomed by all the franchisees.
August 2016
Pink Spaghetti are finalists in the Cheshire Business Awards, in the small business category. The team are off to an awards evening at Chester Cathedral on 7th October to find out if we are winners, and it will give us a great opportunity to meet other local 
businesses.
We have also been shortlisted for two awards from Mum and Working. Another October awards date, this time 11th October, at RBS head office in London. We are very much looking forward to meeting lots of other franchisors and franchisees, and lots of flexible businesses that have the same flexible working values that we do. We are finalists in two categories, Franchisor of the Year, and Business Parent of the Year.
July 2016
Following on from our May “Supportive Franchisor of the Year 2016” win, one of our franchisees, Michelle, from Chester & North Wales, has been interviewed by Working Mums, and find out about the start of her journey as a Pink Spaghetti franchisee. Read the article here to find out why Michelle feels Pink Spaghetti supports franchisees.
June 2016
Following on from our May “Supportive Franchisor of the Year 2016” win, we have been featured in an article by working mums, all about our journey and our franchise model. Read about the values important to Pink spaghetti and our expectations and hopes for growth over the coming years.
May 2016
We won! During on online ceremony, Working Mums Franchise Awards announced that we had beaten 15 other franchises to win Supportive Franchisor 2016. 
The panel of judges highlighted several things that we are proud of, such as the mentoring we offer, bringing in outside consultants, and constant support, and we have to say that we are chuffed to bits to have been recognised in this way. The announcement was shown online, and you can listen to our announcement and the reasons the panel chose us by clicking here.
Two franchises launched in May after their training at our Mid Cheshire head office. Abbie owns Pink Spaghetti Loughton & Surrounds, and Ally owns Pink Spaghetti Wirral, Runcorn & Ellesmere Port. They both really enjoyed doing the training together and feel they can support each other going forward.
Ally, on the right of the picture, has a corporate marketing background and Abbie, second from the right, has been working within IT. We wish them well with their new businesses.
Karen an
d Katie from our new Preston franchise got their press release picked up by their local paper and appeared larger than life! It brought in a number of enquiries in a very short space of time. Click here to read their article.
We have been shortlisted in the Mum and Working Best Franchisor award. Concentrating on the flexibility of the franchise model we offer, we are of course delighted.
April 2016
On 25th April 3 new franchisees went live, including our first partnership. Karen covers Heathrow, Uxbridge & Surrounds, Celine covers Northampton & Surrounds, and Katie and Karen will run Preston & Surrounds. They completed their training the week before, and went away with loads of enthusiasm. They are pictured here with Vicky and Caroline. We wish them well – and are sure they will be amazing. These territories take us to 19 franchise areas.
March 2016
Pink Spaghetti has been shortlisted in two categories for the final of the Working Mums Top franchise awards, The Supportive Franchise Award and the Family Friendly Franchise Award. The awards will be on March 17th at 1pm, so watch this space!
T
hree of our franchisees have also been shortlisted for a Working Mums award as franchisee of the year. Michelle from our Chester and North Wales franchise, Andrea from South Hampshire and aura from Newbury, Swindon & surrounds have all made it through and the winner is being voted for by the general public. We find out if any of them win on May 17th.
February 2016
Nicola, our new Bishop’s Stortford franchise was featured in the business pages of her local newspaper. We love the headline on this one!
January 2016
The iHubbub awards were announced on 27th January, with Andrea from South Hampshire winning not one, but two awards! Best home-based franchisee and most popular business person.
Andrea was our pilot franchisee, and has been with us for three years – we are delighted for her, and are pleased that not only has the franchising side been recognised, but the judges recognised how popular she is, people who network with her, work with her and use her services have known that for a long time 🙂
After 3 very full days of training, January 25th saw the launch of 4 new franchises. Amy from Sheffield, Lou from Worthing & Brighton, Kate from Leeds and
Nicola from Bishops’s Stortford did amazingly in the training, and left fired up for all things Pink Spaghetti and we look forward to working with them in the coming months and year as they grown their own businesses.
Amy got a press release picked up by her local paper on day one, click here to read the article.
Microbiz Matters Day is in January, and celebrates the work of all Micro Businesses. Pink Spaghetti support this fully, as a large percentage of our customers fall into this very important category of businesses. Michelle, our Chester & North Wales franchisee had been featured in her local paper talking about Pink Spaghetti supporting this day.
There are 5.2 million micro businesses in the UK, which is an impressive 96% of all UK businesses. We researched our own clients about the time pressures a 
micro business owner faces, and found consistency, particularly when thinking about social media – vital to a small business owner for low-cost marketing and business promotion. Over 70% of those questioned said they agreed social media was important, but they struggled to find the time for it.
Michelle, along with all other Pink Spaghetti franchisees, will be supporting our the day by giving free time to our micro business customers, supporting the Twitter Hashtag #igave8, which aims to promote businesses helping each other out by giving 8 minutes of free time on Micobiz Matters Day.
November 2015
Pink Spaghetti franchisee Catherine McKinnon, who covers South Manchester, was featured in an article on Timewise. She was talking about having flexibility i
n her role with Pink Spaghetti and how much it suits her family’s lifestyle.
Catherine joined Pink Spaghetti in September 2015.
October 2015
Michelle Collins, our Chester Franchisee has won the Biz Mums Networking Award 2015. The judging panel said ‘One of the reasons Michelle won the Award was because of what she has achieved in such a short time since starting her business, this really stood out in the judging process.”
Award nominees had to evidence how they had supported other businesses and grown their own via networking. Having developed networks within the community and the voluntary sector this is something that Michelle is passionate about and where she has excelled.
Busy Mum of two, Michelle set up her business in January 2015. Covering Chester and North Wales, this innovative business has surpassed all of Michelle’s expectations and now boasts such diverse clients as a North West restaurant chain, dance schools, a design company, travel agents and hypnotherapists to complete tasks and help them raise their profile online.
At the heart of Michelle and Pink Spaghetti’s philosophy has been to find a balance between having a family and running a successful business, whilst also providing an impeccable service for their clients. As a result, much of Michelle’s work has come from recommendations and word-of-mouth as her organisational talents and expertise in Social Media promotion has earned her many accolades and much appreciation.
Pink Spaghetti Head Quarters were finalists in the Best Business Women Awards 2015. We were delighted to be finalists in two categories, Best Women in Business Services and Best Women in Franchising. Vicky and Caroline attended the black tie award ceremony on 15th October, but with so many wonderful businesses entering the awards it wasn’t our night – we knew the competition was going to be a tough one! Our story was picked up by North West FYI.
September 2015
New franchisee Davinia had her press release published in the Bexley Times, telling people all about Pink Spaghetti and she can help them.
Click here to read the article.
On 21st September three new franchises launched. Davinia started the Bexley, Dartford and Gravesend franchise, Elicia started the Basildon, Brentwood and Grays franchise and Vanessa started the Chichester & Surrounds franchise. They all did amazingly well on their three days of intensive training, and we wish them the very best of luck with their new business.
Our Chester franchisee Michelle has been nominated for two business awards. The first is for Networking Mum of the Year, and the second is for exceptional service. She finds out in October whether she wins, and we wish her luck!
June 2015
Our pilot franchisee Andrea, who runs the South Hampshire area has been nominated for an the Best Home Based Franchisee award from iHubbub. Read her entry here.
May 2015
One of 
our latest franchisees, Rachel, has been featured in two newspapers talking about the launch of her business.
April 2015
After completing 3 days of intensive training, our latest franchisees have launched their business. Ann covers Luton, Bedford and surrounding areas, and Rachel covers High Wycome, Aylesbury and surrounding areas. They both did fantastically in their training and were raring to go!
March 2015
The 8th and 9th March saw our first franchise conference. 6 franchisees, plus Vicky and Caroline, covering 8 franchise areas, all came together for a couple of days. We did lots of laughing, talking and learning, and it was a thoroughly beneficial couple of days, with a really great team of ladies.
Franchise conference 2015
February 2015
We were featured in The Guardian on 11th February 2015, in an article on Home Businesses. Read the article here.
January 2015
Michelle Collins launched our 8th territory Chester and North Wales on 6th January 2014. We are thrilled to have Michelle on board and know she is raring to go. Good luck Michelle!
November 2014
Laura from Pink Spaghetti Newbury, Swindon and Surrounds was featured in The Buzz Magazine, with a great article.
Click here to read it.
October 2014
South Manchester franchisee, Catherine, was featured in her local newspaper, The Advertiser South Manchester talking about her new business venture.
Laura from Newbury, Swindon & Surrounds was also featured in the business section of her local newspaper.
Vicky and Caroli
ne were thrilled to be selected as winners of Franchisor of the Year in the Mum and Working Awards held at the Google Campus in London. Picked due to the flexible nature of the franchise offering, they beat both larger and more established franchises.
On 24th October we were featured in an article in The Telegraph, about setting up a virtual office.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/sme-home/11174876/setting-up-a-virtual-office.html
September 2014
This month three new franchises launched. After a very busy and full three days of training we are thrilled that Laura will be taking over Pink Spaghetti Newbury & Swindon, Catherine is launching Pink Spaghetti South Manchester and Vanessa has started Pink Spaghetti Stockport, Wilmslow & Macclesfield. We wish them all well!
July 2014
We have been announced as finalists in the Mum and Working awards.
We are in the category of Franchisor of the year, for actively promoting exceptionally family-friendly and flexible working policies to our franchisees.
The awards will be in October, could it be three in a row? Let’s hope so!
May 2014
We are thrilled to have been named as McDonalds Restaurants New Women Franchisors of the Year at the EWIF Awards (Encouraging Women Into Franchising) at Natwest Head Office on 22nd May.
In announcing us as winners, Matthew Winfield, franchisee relationship manager from sponsors McDonalds Restaurants said the following:
“This is a great franchise; the flexible service offering for its clients is reflected in the franchise model itself. It’s flexibility; combining part time hours with an easily expandable model make it very attractive. This kind of flexibility is rare in the market place but this franchisor has made it work. Even in this tough economic climate the model has continued to grow and franchisees have shown their commitment and interest in buying additional territories.
This franchisor showed clearly that they are growing at a sustainable rate, investing in their brand and gearing their business to ensure longevity of their business and that of their franchisees.
They demonstrated the energy enthusiasm and commitment needed and we are therefore delighted to announce…
The winner of the McDonalds Restaurants New woman franchisor of the year 2014 are Caroline Gowing & Vicky Matthews, Pink Spaghetti.”
Thanks to www.applephotography.co.uk for the photos.
April 2014
An article was published on the Family Friendly Working website about the co-founders of Pink Spaghetti.
We were also featured by The Guardian newspaper, talking about business with young children around in their article Business Playdate Economy. Read the article here.
Our South Hampshire Franchisee was written about in DIY Girl, a business magazine for women. Click here to read all about Andrea, issue 9, page 6.
We are delighted that
we have been chosen as finalists for this years Women in Franchising Awards, in the category of New Franchisors, sponsored by McDonalds. Vicky and Caroline will be attending an awards ceremony on 22nd May in London…fingers crossed!
March 2014
We won! We were names Business of the Year at the Network She awards. Chosen for our growth and profitability, as well as the importance of our work life balance, both for our staff, our franchisees, and for our customers due to the service we offer. Of course we are delighted, very much a team effort!
We have appeared in the online business section of the Northwich Guardian.View the article here. Also the Warrington Guardian. View the article here.
At the end of March co-owner Vicky was featured in the first of a series of Blogs from Hiscox Insurance, on our start up story and five tips on how we have made it work. Click here to read the blog.
February 2014
Julie started in the Mid Cheshire office this month, specifically for marketing and social media for our clients, as well as research tasks, of which we get many varied requests!
We are also delighted to be finalists in the Network She Women’s Day awards, which are to take place on 7th March.
January 2014
We are delighted to have been featured in the Manchester Evening News.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/enterprise/growing-demand-for-helping-hand-6492085
December 2013
We have been featured in the Northwich Guardian, reviewing our growing business over the last few years.
http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/10886171.Northwich_company_s_s/
October 2013
1st October saw the launch of our franchise covering Wirral, Runcorn and Elsmere Port. Nikki Hartley started in earnest and we are delighted that she has joined the growing Pink Spaghetti team.
On 14th October Helen Whitaker launched Pink Spaghetti Leeds. Helen completed training at the same time as Nikki, but was working out her notice. We think Helen will be a great fit with the team.
September 2013
Our fresh new look website has gone live. This includes bundles of tasks which our customers use regularly, and the new Pink Spaghetti blog, which will have insights into Pink Spaghetti and time saving and efficiency tips a couple of times a month.
We are also delighted that Alexia Mackey has joined the Mid Cheshire team. Alexia will be working on research and marketing for our clients, especially lot of social media posts, tweets and more! Welcome Alexia!
Our first two franchisees, Andrea and Suzi, celebrated one year with Pink Spaghetti. We have been very lucky with such great pilot franchisees, who continue to go from strength to strength.
August 2013
Pink Spaghetti Mid Cheshire has just employed Leigh-anne who will be supporting the office and the Mid Cheshire customers with a wide variety of tasks. Leigh-anne will be working 2 days a week, from the Northwich office. Welcome Leigh-anne!
We are delighted to have appeared in the Puddleducks blog. Puddleducks is where Vicky and Caroline met, so it was really lovely to have been featured. http://www.puddleducks.com/blog/2013/08/birds_of_a_feather/
July 2013
A busy month this month! We are delighted that Samantha Pariser has joined us a franchise owner for York, Harrogate and Surrounds, and we wish her the best of luck in her new venture.
Also, Vicky and Caroline have just got the keys for their new office in Northwich, Cheshire for their own Mid Cheshire franchise, as the business is growing and growing. Adverts were placed for office staff, so watch this space for further news!
Andrea from Pink Spaghetti South Hampshire has brought Kate on board to help her out with customer tasks, welcome Kate!
April 2013
Vicky and Caroline are were delighted to be nominated for Best New Franchisor at the EWIF (Encouraging Women into Franchising) awards in London. We had a great day at the awards, meeting lots of inspirational franchisors and franchisees. Sadly we did not win, but had a great experience and were delighted to be nominated.
December 2012
A great end to a great year – we have been chosen as one of the Mumpreneur UK’s Top 100 Mumpreneurs!
Also, we are delighted that Andrea Holmes, owner of Pink Spaghetti Portsmouth and Winchester, has also purchased her neighbouring area Southampton, so is now the owner of two franchise areas.
September 2012
On 10th September our first two franchises launched. Suzi Davis runs Newbury, Swindon and Surrounds, and Andrea Holmes runs Portsmouth and Winchester. The franchisees have undertaken very full training, covering all aspects of the very varied tasks we carry out for our customers. We are delighted that two such capable people have become part of the Pink Spaghetti team.
May 2012
An exciting month for Pink Spaghetti! We are now offering Franchises. We are looking for like minded people to take on our first pilot franchises, as we continue to grow. See our home page for more information. We are delighted to have been featured on the front cover of Mumpreneur the magazine.
February 2012
We have been featured on the members blog for Mumpreneur UK. http://mumpreneuruk.blogspot.com/2012/02/members-blog-pink-spaghetti.html
January 2012
We have become members of the Association of Professional Declutters and Organisers this month! The Association of Professional Declutters and Organisers (APDO) was foudned in 2004 in reponse to a growing nationwide interest in clutter-free living. The founders recognised that it was difficult for people to know where to find decluttering help, and those professionals in the decluttering and organising industry needed their own UK association. We offer our own decluttering service. Designed especially for the many people who now work from home who may have a cluttered office or study that may need sorting out.
December 2011 We are very pleased that our new EBay service has been featured in ‘My Style Companion’ Christmas newsletter. For further details about ‘My Style Companion’ visit http://www.mystylecompanion.com
November 2011 We are delighted to have launched our Ebay Selling Service. For all our customers who just don’t have the time in their day to list everything on Ebay, or find out if there is a better place to list items such as jewellery , prams and car seats, we can do it for you! Check out our new Ebay web page www.pink-spaghetti.co.uk/for-your-home/ebay/
November 2011 We had an article published on the Female Entrepeneur website on starting Pink Spaghetti: http://femaleentrepreneurassociation.com/2011/11/building-a-business-to-suit-the-family-lifestyle/
The following links show articles about Pink Spaghetti that have appeared in the press:
