Is Jo Ashworth Britain’s Best Boss?

Our Founder Director, Jo, has just been given the surprise of her life. Unbeknownst to her, we secretly nominated her for the Best Boss category of the national Best Business Women Awards… and she’s only gone and made it to the Finals!

Jo is thrilled by the news – in fact, she feels honoured and touched. “I’m beyond excited and proud,” she said. “The fact that my Artisan colleagues have done this for me is incredible. It’s always been important to me that my staff feel valued and inspired, and I’ve created a company that is full of personality and a workplace that is fun, lively and energetic. It means a great deal to me that everyone enjoys working with me so much that they’ve taken the time and trouble to nominate me for this award!”

Debbie Gilbert is the organiser of The Best Business Women Awards. She said: “To be a finalist is a major achievement. The business women selected have been chosen for their business acumen, determination, creativity and tenacity. All our finalists are all shining examples of being successful entrepreneurs who have proved their success to our judges.”

Surviving and thriving

As you’d expect, because a huge part of our work specialises in the recruitment needs for Galleries & Museums, Beauty & Fashion, and Retail, this year has been a tough one. When many of us were on furlough, Jo was working extra hard to ensure the future of our jobs. “It’s been a strange and stressful year, and as a company, we had to adapt our working practices extremely quickly in order to survive in the wake of the pandemic. However, we’ve weathered the storm and have already implemented ways of improving our service and the quality of our recruits, including new online training courses.”

Enhancing our current offering wasn’t enough for Jo. In fact, she’s expanding the company! Artisan Aunties will be launched very soon. Jo spotted a future opportunity in the care sector to provide the staff needed to enable older people to continue living independently at home rather than having to move into care homes, which they are understandably reluctant to do.

Jo is determined to create a new, high-quality offering. “We’ll use our tried and trusted model for attracting and training high-quality candidates who will delight with customer service excellence. I know that these are uncertain times, but I keep reminding myself that I set up Artisan People in a crowded market and in the middle of a recession. All of my goals and successes could not have been achieved without the support of my fabulous business partner and the outstanding team beside me!”

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until next year to find out if Jo’s a BBWA winner – although she’ll always be a winner to us of course. The gala dinner and award ceremony originally planned for October has fallen victim to social distancing rules and regulations, and it has been postponed until April 2021. Fingers crossed we’ll be popping the champagne corks then!