Lingotot Hosts Their Conference After Two Years of Delay Due to Covid-19!

Lingotot franchisees from all over the UK and Ireland flocked to Durham on March 19th for the Lingotot Conference. This was the first time many of the franchisees and HQ staff had met in person after having to reschedule the conference twice due to Covid-19. The day consisted of hugs galore, red polo shirts, good food, guest speakers, team exercises, business training, and of course an evening party!

After a welcome from Angela and Ann at HQ, the conference also heard from the Lingotot champions, Sarah Canavan, Harriet Blain, Sarah Lester and Bex Westwood. The champions provide fantastic peer support in a specific area of expertise and they relayed some great tips and tricks to the network.

The guest speakers at this year’s conference also provided a wealth of expertise on a huge variety of topics. Firstly was Florence Potot, Senior Lecturer Programme Leader French and Employability Co-ordinator at Northumbria University. Florence provided a fantastic insight into all the ways in which we communicate and how this can be incorporated into teaching methods.

The Lingotot network also heard from Brian Stobie, the International Officer at Durham County Council. Brian plays an important role in encouraging language learning in education and the promotion of international connectivity.

After a coffee and cake break, the conference welcomed Pip Wilkins, CEO of the British Franchise Association. The BFA works to promote ethical franchising practise in the UK and help the industry develop credibility. Pip also works specifically to increase the number of women in franchising, a fantastic representative for the all female Lingotot network.

Just before a fantastic buffet lunch, the network heard from more of their own in a panel discussion. Abi Curtis, Amy Rowsell, Jaclyn Townshend, Catherine Garrett and Harriet Blain shared their different experiences and how they’ve built up their Lingotot businesses to suit their lives.

Stuart Lee, director of Atlas Mapping was next. One of Stuart’s major roles when working with his customers is analysing business performance from a geographic and demographic perspective. He gave the Lingotot network an interesting insight into how mapping your customer base can influence your business plan and overall performance.

Next the fantastic Christina Taylor-Chisholm took the mic to deliver some sales training. Christina is a fellow franchisor herself of Popolo Ceramico and is also co-founder of the inspirational speaker agency. She took the network through some great sales techniques and takeaways.

After more coffee and chats, the network was meant to hear from the wonderful Michelle Rose of Michelle Rose Marketing. Unfortunately illness meant she couldn’t be there, however Angela took the network through her slides and she provided a fantastic handout to help with mapping out marketing strategies. The conference then went straight into a World Cafe Discussion which meant the network had lots more time to chat to each other and covered topics like marketing and self care.

Next was awards time! These awards are to recognise the hard work, friendship and commitment of our network. It was so hard to judge this year as quite frankly all of our franchisees are utterly wonderful! BUT we had to choose some winners and we are delighted to announce them here:

Rising Star - Amy Rowsell (Lingotot South Staffordshire)

Shooting Star - Harriet Blain (Lingotot West Hove)

Reach for the Stars - Sarah Lester (Lingotot Sutton)

Marketing Magician - Catherine Garrett (Lingotot West Oxford)

Inspirational Innovator - Jaclyn Townshend (Lingotot Gravesend)

PR Guru - Elena Calavia (Lingotot Drogheda and East Meath)

Most Valuable Team Player - Lisa Armes (Lingotot East Durham)

And of course some fun categories..!

Star Baker - Monica Moreno (Lingotot South Havering)

Best Zebra Impersonator - Kate Thorne (Lingotot Southend-on-Sea)

Most Comical Face During Webinar - Amy Rowsell (Lingotot South Staffordshire)

Most Likely to Win a Contract Whist Wearing Shorts - Bex Westwood (Lingotot Wakefield)

And of course no conference would be complete without a party! The network celebrated in the Radisson Blu with a night of dancing and more delicious food!

Would you like to come along to next year’s conference as one of the Lingotot family? Find out more about franchising Lingotot.com/franchise


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About Lingotot

Lingotot teaches foreign languages to children aged 0-12 across the UK and internationally via a network of over 130 fully qualified franchisees and teachers. The Lingotot Method was designed by fully qualified languages teacher & Lingotot founder, Angela Sterling. The Lingotot Method makes use of active, communicative and interactive teaching methods which come naturally to young learners. Learning is through songs, stories, games, drama and play in French, Spanish, German, ESL, Italian, Arabic, Welsh and Mandarin.


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