THE franchisee of a Stockton Heath salon has secured double success at an awards night for businesswomen.

Claire Slorach, from Toni & Guy, on London Road, won two awards at the 2017 NatWest Encouraging Women into Franchising (EWIF) awards night in London.

She scooped the 'woman franchisee of the year' honour, as well as the 'overall woman in franchising' title.

Clive Sawyer, chief executive of EWIF and managing director of Business Options, hailed all of the finalists. 

He said: "Every year the NatWest EWIF awards get bigger and bigger and I can't believe we've just finished our seventh awards.

"EWIF membership is growing year on year and each year sees record numbers of entries.

"This demonstrates how women are coming forward to shout about their achievements.

"For me, this means the EWIF cause is working its magic.

"I look forward to the awards every year and I'm always sad when it's over.

"It's lovely to see so many from within the franchise industry joining together to celebrate the winners' and finalists' achievements."

Guest speaker Melody Hossaini, founder of InspirEngage, shared her experiences of being a leading businesswoman on the night.

She said: "Today was my first experience of being at an EWIF Awards Ceremony – it's such a pleasure to be here.

"I think it's so important for women to get involved in franchising.

"When women find themselves in situations where they want a bit more flexibility and perhaps want to make passion their career, they can look to the franchising model to help them become more economically active.

"I've had some really interesting conversations today with both franchisees and franchisors about their models and why they are passionate about getting more women into franchising.

"It's been absolutely fascinating and such a pleasure to see the great work that EWIF does."