Having spent many years in senior retail management throughout the UK and overseas, Nick joined cost and purchase management specialists Auditel in January this year. As an Auditel Consultant, Nick works as a specialist outsourced management resource for small and medium-size businesses across the UK, helping them to manage their critical business costs. As an active member of the Swindon business community, he has also been heavily involved in the regeneration plans for the town centre for a number of years.

Nick comments, “Having worked at a strategic level in Swindon for more than eleven years, I understand the issues facing small businesses. The Swindon Chamber of Commerce is in prime position to be the catalyst for bringing together the commercial interests in the area with the local authority and the various industry interest groups – all of whom want the same thing: for Swindon to be the commercial powerhouse it could so easily be.”

Chambers including Bedfordshire, Luton, Birmingham, Crawley, Horsham, Doncaster, Shropshire, Thames Valley, Gloucestershire and Mid West Wales are also working closely with Auditel consultants to bring our valuable cost and purchase management services to their members.

As Daryn said before the race, “I’m not quite sure how I got here but here I am about to embark on a half-marathon! Actually I do know, as I specifically choose to run for Diabetes UK for a couple of reasons. My late mum had diabetes, and as I do too, I thought the training would help me.”

Daryn didn’t set himself a target time, as raising money and getting to the finish without the assistance of the St. John’s Ambulance were his main objectives. Once he’d got his breath back after the race Daryn said, “It was an amazing experience. As I had some really generous donations - £1,000 so far - I thought it was important to make a serious attempt and not just walk round. Considering that my restricted training had not let me go beyond five miles I was surprised that I felt quite comfortable up to ten miles. Then it was a different story as my shortened training was seriously exposed. I didn’t know you could experience such pain but once I was into the last three miles I was determined to make it to the line. I certainly managed that. I ran every step of the way without stopping or walking even once and finished in 3 hours 33 minutes and 19 seconds! This morning, I can’t believe that I ran for over 3 1/2 hours, but my legs are definitely reminding me that I did!”

Daryn joins a growing band of intrepid Auditel consultants and staff who have set themselves mental and physical challenges in support of charities this year. This group includes Alan Ford, who completed the Ironman Triathlon for Cancer Research in August, Chris Gordon who completed the Pennine Walk in record time for Wonder Years earlier this month and Edward Brewer who joined his 98-year old grandfather, George Moyse, in a parachute jump for the RNLI and Royal Airforce Association in April. Meanwhile Jack Pokoj will take part in the New York Marathon (his second this year) for Breast Cancer Care in November.

The Auditel recruitment team will be on Stand F190 and would welcome the chance to meet with anybody interested in developing a home-based professional business as a member of the UK’s leading network of cost and purchase management consultants. In addition, our Business Development Manager, Ed Brewer, will be presenting a seminar called “In Business for yourself not by yourself - how to choose your perfect franchise” at 12:15pm on both days, while one of our consultants, Denis Brennan, will be on the whichfranchise.com Franchisee panel on Friday 2nd.

For more information about the exhibition or to register for a free ticket, contact Tara Martin on 01962 863915.

This epic undertaking involved hiking 272 miles from Edale in the Pake District to Yeltholm in Scotland, climbing 40,000 feet in the process. As Chris explains, “‘The Pennine Way’ is generally regarded as the toughest and most challenging long-distance walk in Britain. I’ve done the Three Peaks Challenge - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours - a couple of times. Growing up in The Lake District I’ve always loved hiking, but I knew this would be far harder than anything I’d done before. The primary reason is the sheer distance, but also because we planned to do it in less than 12 days. The standard completion time for anybody daft enough to do it in ‘one go’ is about 3 weeks!”

The pair actually completed the walk in under 12 days, walking from dawn till dusk with a maximum 10-minute break for lunch in some of the worst seasonal weather the area has seen for years – driving rain, 70 mph winds. and thick fog. As a result, rivers were in full flood and bogs were saturated making the walk more tiring and occasionally treacherous. Chris says, “The fact that the sun came out on the last day was a supreme irony. We suffered quite badly with blisters as our boots were constantly waterlogged and I still have some mild nerve damage to my feet. I thought our tent was going to be blown away most nights, so we didn’t get much sleep either. It was great to get back to a comfy bed!”

With nearly £3,000 already raised, Chris and George are very hopeful that fund-matching pledges will increase this significantly taking them closer to their £10,000 target. Chris says: “This kind of money will go an awfully long way in The Gambia to form a community that can stand on its own. Every penny raised will make a massive difference to the people’s lives. Although we are both still sore and very tired, we are really pleased with what we have achieved and the money we have raised so far.”

Chris joins a growing band of intrepid Auditel consultants and staff who have set themselves mental and physical challenges in support of charities this year. This group includes Alan Ford, who completed the Ironman Triathlon for Cancer Research in August and Edward Brewer who joined his 98-year old grandfather, George Moyse, in a parachute jump for the RNLI and Royal Airforce Association in April. Meanwhile Daryn Dodge will run the Bupa Great North Run later this month for Diabetes UK and Jack Pokoj will take part in the New York Marathon (his second this year) for Breast Cancer Care in November.

“It’s hard to believe that on August 10th Auditel celebrated 15 years as one of the UK’s leading franchised cost and purchase management consultancies. Back in 1994 both franchising and the markets in which we operate were very different to today and it’s testimony to the strength of the Auditel business opportunity and the people in our team that we have continued to thrive and grow throughout the booms and busts of the intervening years. As Managing Director of Auditel, I’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute here to all the hard work, dedication and loyalty shown by my colleagues in the Winchester Support Team and by our Franchisees - past, present and future - and raise a (virtual) glass to the next 15 years!”

Chris Allison, founder and MD of Auditel (UK) Ltd.

To read a potted history of Auditel’s development over the past 15 years, meet some of our Franchisees or find out more about our exciting and profitable franchise opportunity visit our website or contact us on 0800 583 3355.

Opening times for the show are 5:30pm - 8:30pm on Thursday 10th September and 9:00am - 3:00pm on Friday 11th September and entry is free with this Exhibitor Guest Pass.

For more information about the show and the Auditel opportunity contact Tara Martin on 0800 583 3355.

Brian Smart, director general of the bfa, says, “There is little indication so far of the recession having a severe impact on the franchise industry. It seems franchised businesses are in a much stronger position as they have the additional protection of a proven business model and brand, and are a lower risk option for customers.”

This is certainly borne out by our experience at Auditel. Not only are we seeing an increase in the number of high calibre candidates for new franchises but demand for our consultants’ services has increased too as organisations in every sector look to manage costs effectively and to out-source expertise rather than take on costly in-house resources.

If you’re interested in starting your own home-based business you can find out more about the Auditel franchise opportunity by downloading a copy of our e-brochure or by coming along to one of our discovery seminars.

Networking with colleagues

Friday 12th June saw Auditel consultants and representatives from some of the UK’s major suppliers of essential business services at Whittlebury Hall near Towcester for our 2009 Supplier Exhibition. This annual event is an invaluable opportunity for Auditel consultants and suppliers to meet face-to-face and enhance knowledge and understanding of each others’ services in a way that adds real value to the Auditel client offering.

Networking with suppliers

Despite the difficult economic pressures many suppliers are experiencing 31 organisations exhibited and ran seminars during the day clearly demonstrating the value they place on their relationships with Auditel and the high professional esteem in which our consultants are held. Exhibitors included:

• Scottish & Southern Energy
• EDF Energy
• British Gas
• Travelex
• Bluefin Insurance Services
• Drivers Jonas LLP
• Shell Gas
• KallKwik
• UK Telco
• Inenco
• Vivio
• Uniworld Communications

In the evening, with formal business networking over, delegates and exhibitors relaxed at a TexMex-themed dinner (complete with sombreros, stick-on moustaches, pinatas and a bucking bronco!) to round off what everybody agreed was a fantastic day.

Left to right: Mike Jackson, Steve Ray, Mike Say, Nick Smyth, Angela Tolputt, Claire Power-Browne, Bob Wynne, Vicky Hollin, Richard Grant

Welcome to our latest intake of new Consultants who joined us for the client acquisition week of their training programme at the end of April. We’ve known Angela and Vicky for a while as their partners are already running Auditel practices and we are delighted they are now joining the Auditel Network as consultants in their own right. Claire is also joining an established and very successful practice which was set up by Steve Ray in 2007. Claire and Steve are old family friends and are running their practice as a limited liability partnership so Steve joined us for a couple of the sessions by way of a refresher. Nick and Bob are also old buddies who will be running their new Auditel business in partnership under a limited company, demonstrating yet another way in which the Auditel business system can be successfully applied to different business models.

It’s been great getting to know new faces and renew old acquaintances and we look forward to seeing everyone again next week when they come back to Winchester for part two (the technical part) of their initial training course.