It’s been a big month for Dave and Marcia Bragg of Flooring Design Whakatāne, who have taken home not one but two major national accolades.

First, they were named finalists in the Westpac New Zealand Franchisee of the Year Awards, then, a week later, they won the Flooring Design Franchise of the Year Award.

The couple’s hard work and commitment have also paid dividends with increased recognition and rapid growth during their five-and-a-half years in business.

Mrs Bragg grew up in Whakatāne while her husband hails from Invercargill. The couple lived in Rotorua for 25 years before returning to open the Whakatāne franchise.

“I was working for the Flooring Design group in Rotorua for one of the stores,” said Mr Bragg.

“They wanted to open a store here. The group thought there was a good market here and not enough shops. So, here we are. We put our hand up, and it happened.”

Since opening, the Braggs have grown their team from two full-timers to five.

When asked what they think helped them achieve finalist and winner status, Mr Bragg said, “Pretty much get it right with the customers and the installations.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time we get it right, and the one percent where things don’t go quite right, then we make sure we make it right.”

“It’s all about customer service, and we’re passionate about what we do,” Mrs Bragg said.

The focus shows with the store having 116 five-star Google reviews.

They say their staff are key to their success.

“Our team, Corrine, Jordan and Fraser, are great. Having the right people as part of your business is so important,” said Mrs Bragg.

“The right people, honesty, good attitude,” Mr Bragg said. “Honesty, particularly - number one.

“We’re very transparent, we quote out everything completely broken down, so there’s no guessing.”

Strong relationships are also essential.

“We do a lot of pricing and a lot of work with local builders; we’ve built that up over the five years we’ve been open. And we just get so much repeat word of mouth.”

They are also members of Business Network International (BNI) and meet with a group of local business owners weekly.

“We meet every Thursday morning for coffee and breakfast and just a general chit chat. From that we’ve got referrals, and then we refer to each other for customers."

Beyond business, the Braggs support numerous local organisations.

“We’ve sponsored different sports teams and local clubs, and we’ve done a few projects where we’ve given people a lower price because it’s for a community group. We’re very mindful of that sort of thing too," said Mr Bragg.

They make sustainability a priority. “We do all our own recycling, like paper and cardboard,” said Mrs Bragg. “We recycle our underlay - any offcuts, everything goes back to the factory to be recycled. We recycle carpet where we can.

“A lot of the products that now come through are environmentally friendly, or they’re made out of recycled materials.”

Judges at the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards praised the couple’s submission for its “clear, concise achievements, supported with factual information”.

They noted the store’s strong growth, reinvestment in staff culture and product range, describing it as “a solid business, which showed it is performing well”.