In just five years, Norma Fenwick has gone from successful Kendlebell franchise owner to Managing Director of the whole business for the UK and Ireland.

Newly appointed Managing Director Norma Fenwick (pictured) said: "I'm delighted to be taking the company forward and Kendlebell will be raising the bar for the quality of services provided to SMEs and corporate businesses as we seek to become one of the biggest players in the market over the next three years."

Fenwick bought into the franchise for telephone answering and diary management after working for a logistics company. She said: "I'd spent most of my career as a Senior Manager in large corporates and when I took on a role with a smaller company I realised that they were missing calls and losing business as a result because the staff were so overstretched. I knew there had to be a better way to do business."

When Fenwick read about Kendlebell in a franchising magazine, she arranged to meet the owner and signed up just five weeks later. In 2005, she took over the Kendlebell franchise in Ware, Hertfordshire and just 18 months later she was running the biggest of 23 nationwide franchises at the time.

The growth in the number of online businesses who need customer enquiries managed for them and the pressures on back-office costs for all companies means that Kendlebell is seeing more businesses turn to them for help. The company now employs around 100 telephonists throughout the UK.

Published: 20 September 2010

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