Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz Theatre Schools speaks about the changes that the company has made to care for the planet and the office.  

The children are at the very heart of Razzamataz Theatre Schools. What is important to them, is important to us and we know that many feel passionately about the planet and climate change and doing all they can to be sustainable.

The Razzamataz franchise system is set up to offer flexible and remote working, so we are perfectly aligned to the current changes in working behaviour. This also ensures that we are doing our bit to best care for the planet.

In the ‘office’

One of the benefits of being a Razzamataz franchisee is the opportunity to choose your working hours and where you work from. Your ‘office’ can be anywhere and everywhere, and you can dictate the hours to suit your lifestyle. Pre-pandemic, we had a Head Office set up in the Lake District and although it was in a truly beautiful location, we realised that there was a much better and more sustainable way of working, including allowing our employees to work from home, which stopped excessively long commutes.

Franchise training

Before the pandemic, we held all our training in our Head Office in the Lake District. Although this had its advantages, it meant that our franchisees had to travel across the UK to reach us. This obviously had an impact in terms of time, money and fuel emissions and meant that franchisees were sometimes reluctant to attend refresher training sessions, although there are no additional costs to them. During the pandemic, we took all the training on Zoom with huge success. Many of our current franchisees could easily join a session for a recap and new franchisees had additional time to digest all the new information.

Support

We were very mindful that by working more remotely, we must not loose the personal touch with our franchisees. We have a dedicated support manager in place, held many wellness sessions with experienced coaches and we are introducing coffee morning catch ups remotely. It is important that although remote working is very effective in terms of time, impact on the planet and cost savings, we must also ensure our franchisees always feel supported and never alone. Our annual Conference and regional meetings make sure that we stay connected to our franchise community and they offer the chance to network and share new ideas.

Better live/work routines

Since the pandemic, we have noticed more franchisees joining us because they want to create a more balanced life for themselves. The planet and us as individuals can only take so much rushing around. Long commutes in the car or overly busy public transport commutes are damaging to both human and the earth. We help our franchisees create effective work routines, so they don’t have to compromise family commitments or suffer horrendous journeys daily. We are not saying that you won’t have to work hard, but you can do it at the time and pace that suits you. We have many parents in our network who like the fact that they can pick up on their work once the children are in bed and many franchisees combine their Razzamataz business with other commitments.

Children and the future

Working in the children’s sector, it is incredibly important to us all that we are mindful of the legacy that we are leaving the next generation. As a franchise, we do all we can to encourage sustainability and a good eco agenda. This includes encouraging all students to use our Razzamataz reusable water bottles, limiting the amount of paperwork we send out and even getting involved in local litter picking events.

Join our team

We are looking for dynamic partners to own a Razzamataz Theatre School. If you are looking to make a difference in your local community to the lives of young people and you have a passion for performing arts, we would love to hear from you.

Re-sale opportunities

Occasionally franchise territories come up for re-sale due to a change in the franchisees’ personal circumstances or simply because they have decided to sell their asset and reap the rewards of their hard work. These re-sale schools very rarely stay on the market for long, so if you are interested, don’t delay in contacting us. Re-sale schools in:

• High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
• Derby, East Midlands

If you would like to find out more about our ambitious growth plans and be part of multi-award winning Razzamataz Theatre Schools network, drop Charlotte a line from our friendly Head Office team to book on to one of our virtual Discovery Dens.

• Email: franchise@razzamataz.co.uk
• Telephone: +44 7821 122242