Harmony at Home is a multi-award-winning Franchise looking for caring entrepreneurs to run a premier nanny and household staffing agency. Founded by Norland-trained nanny and mother, Frankie Gray, it has been providing high quality childcare services for parents in London, the UK and internationally since 2004.
If you’re interested in investing in a Harmony at Home franchise, Charlotte Maggs will be your initial point of contact and will help you along the way to running your own nanny agency business. We spoke to Charlotte to learn more about herself, her role with Harmony at Home and what the business aims to achieve in the future.
1. Who are you and what is your role with Harmony at Home?
I am Charlotte, and I am the Franchise Support Manager here at Harmony at Home. I support our founder, Frankie Gray, and all our current franchisees across the country, to ensure their success. Alongside this, I also perform discovery calls and recruit new franchisees and support them as they begin their journey with us.
2. What does Harmony at Home do?
We have developed a simple and successful model, to enable our franchisees to work flexibly from home, running an employment agency, which provides a profitable source of income and a guaranteed Harmony at Home level of childcare provision to local parents and households.
Our household staff recruitment agencies find staff for private households. The agency is not the employer but provides a full-service including job advert creation, interviewing, and screening applicants, matching applicants to the client’s requirements, setting up interviews for both parties, and interview feedback. An introduction fee is charged to the client upon their decision to employ an applicant introduced by the agency.
3. Why is Harmony at Home a smart investment for entrepreneurs?
The childcare industry in the UK is extremely robust. During the financial crisis of 2007–8, when many businesses went into decline, Harmony at Home experienced a period of unprecedented growth, and throughout the pandemic Harmony at Home have flexed to provide digital checks and remote services. A surge in demand for household staff was recorded when many people returned to work after a period of home working. We understand that market volatility is a key consideration for many investors, particularly during times of political and economic uncertainty.
On top of this, the private household staffing sector continues to see salary increases year on year.
4. What do you look for in a potential franchisee?
We are always on the lookout for highly motivated, talented and passionate people. Whether you come from a childcare background, or have experience in recruitment, and you feel you have what it takes to always make the right match between candidates and clients, we want to hear from you.
5. How many franchises do you currently have?
We currently have 12 franchises which are owned and run within the network – with some of our franchisees owning and running more than one territory! They are based across the UK, and alongside our franchisees, we also have a wonderful team of recruiters in head office.
6. Please tell me how Harmony at Home supports its franchisees?
We offer ongoing support to all our franchisees. There are many ways to access support, and we have created a range of support methods to suit everyone’s needs. Most importantly we want you to be self-supporting and able to access what you need when you need it most. For example, you can book one-to-one 15-minute video power sessions with our founder or join in our weekly drop in focus and support video call. Our manual, and network hub are full of resources and guides, and every year we offer support and training at our yearly conference. Head office are on hand to offer telephone and email support, and our network of industry experts and more-experienced franchisees are readily available to help with any extraordinary queries.
As a new franchisee you will also be appointed a mentor, one of our highly experienced franchisees who we feel is best suited to support you in the beginning of your journey with Harmony at Home.
7. What are your plans for growth over the next 5 years?
We are a rapidly expanding franchise network and we expect this growth to continue. The Harmony at Home brand now occupies a dominant market position throughout the UK, as well as many regions overseas. This position can only be strengthened as the company continues to grow, and we are so excited to see what the next 5 years brings.
8. Do you have any discovery days upcoming?
We highly encourage any prospect franchisees to get in touch, and book in a discovery call with us to find out more. By offering bespoke discovery calls, we give you the chance to arrange the call at a time and day to suit you. This tailored approach gives you the chance to ask any questions you may have, in a personal setting.
9. What has been your best achievement in the past year?
Having worked with Harmony at Home for a year, my best achievement as Franchise Support Manager has got to be onboarding 3 new franchisees together as a small cohort in May. We have seen huge benefits of bringing new franchisees into the network in a group as they have supported each other as they each began to set up their own businesses.
Bringing the network together for the Annual Conference 2022, alongside Frankie, was also a great achievement for us. The first ‘in-person’ meeting for the network since the pandemic saw lots of franchisees and team members meeting for the first time. It was a very special moment for us this year.
10. What are your interests and hobbies? What do you do to relax?
As a mother to two small children, I am always run off my feet, but working for Harmony at Home has given me the flexibility to be there for them when needed, alongside giving me the opportunity to work from home.
I love to be outdoors with my husband and children, and we recently enjoyed a two-week camping trip in France. We are looking forward to teaching our children to ski, and when I find the time, I enjoy yoga and tennis.
Harmony at Home | Quality Franchise Association (franchise-association.org.uk)
