About Rosemary

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  • The Rosemary Franchise is an outsourced bookkeeping franchise based on a business concept that has been established and refined since 2002. The business offers a unique bookkeeping system within a fully supported franchise package focused on flexibility to its owner with superb work/life balance potential.
  • The Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise is backed by four successful entrepreneur business women, Joanna Dennis, Lisa Curteis and Claire Watson-Bardot and Sarah Cook who have a combined 60 years of bookkeeping and marketing experience.
  • Rosemary Bookkeeping franchisees have been trained under the Rosemary System® for bookkeeping.  This enables them to deliver efficient reporting to clients and their accountants and is specifically focused around the popular suite of Sage Accounts software, commonly used by businesses and accountants.
  • This is a truly scalable business - work around the kids, the family or build the business into a management style opportunity while you build and manage your own team of bookkeepers, all using the Rosemary System®. You are not required to sit by the phone 24/7, allowing you to choose your hours between daytime, evening and weekend to fit around your lifestyle.
The Rosemary Team

Joanna Dennis, Franchise Development Director

Joanna joined the Directorship of Rosemary Bookkeeping at the start of 2010 as the Franchise Development Director, and brought with her an outstanding and award winning financial background.  As a Chartered Certified Accountant and a seasoned professional, Joanna has been instrumental in many new businesses securing their financing and enabling growth while ensuring their ongoing stability. With Joanna’s vast array of skills in business development and building client relationships she is invaluable in supporting new Rosemary Bookkeeping franchisees in developing their businesses.  Joanna is also an excellent public speaker and has delivered speeches to senior HMRC managers, Inland Revenue, MBA students at the University of London and at the Chartered Accountants Annual Conference. “I am focused on motivating and empowering individuals to succeed in business. The Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise is one of the most exciting and flexible opportunities in the market and I am delighted to be part of it. ” Joanna is married with 2 daughters, speaks intermediate French and enjoys golf and running as part of her approach to achieving a healthy work/ life balance.

Lisa Curteis, Franchise Recruitment Director

Lisa's considerable business skills were honed during her 9 years with a firm of management consultants.   She joined when the company was first formed and played a key role in its ensuing development; today it has become a highly successful £multi-million concern.   Her responsibilities were wide-ranging and embraced all aspects of marketing,  finance, operations and administration.   Lisa was responsible for ensuring that all concerned were able to deliver a very high standard of service to clients - valuable experience which is of particular relevance to her present role.

Fulfilling a personal ambition to share her business know-how with others, Lisa joined the  Board of Rosemary Bookkeeping in 2009.   She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Fraser and daughters Lily and Ella.   She enjoys running, competes in a local netball league and is committed to fundraising for both local and national charities.

Claire Watson-Bardot, Training and Support Director

Claire's career began in the Registrar's Department of the Bank of England.   Progressing along an interesting and quite unusual path, Claire became one of the first members of staff appointed to the Bank of England's Museum.   A transfer to the Bank's Public Liaison Group followed, with further promotion that involved dealing with correspondence on behalf of the Governor of the Bank of England.   Returning to manage the Bank's Museum, she was further promoted to Manager of Conferences and Functions.   Claire served the Bank of England for almost twenty years, during which time she became an accomplished administrator, running departments efficiently and effectively.

In 2002 Claire established the original business in Hertfordshire. The practical experience gained along the way provided a strong foundation for new developments and in 2008, as a result of its significant success, we set up the business model upon which the Rosemary Bookkeeping Franchise is based.  Claire trains and supports all franchisees to ensure they deliver a first-class bookeeping service to their clients. 

Claire, a wildlife enthusiast, also lives in Hertfordshire, with her husband Jim and daughter Phoebe.  

Sarah Cook, Marketing Director

Sarah is a fully qualified Chartered Marketer and an active member of The Chartered Institute of Marketing.  She holds a Professional Postgraduate Diploma as well as an Honours degree in Marketing.

Sarah actively works within the franchise industry to raise the standard of marketing by working with a wide range of franchisors and recently joined the Rosemary team to support the Franchise Partners in developing their Rosemary Bookkeeping franchise.

Being a black belt at Karate, Sarah can be pretty determined and this shines through in her approach to working with business owners. Her two British National Karate Championship titles are an indication of her competitive streak - a skill which has definitely been transferred to the business world!

10K sponsored runs and riding her horse are also among Sarah's sporting interests.

Jennifer Davidson, Events Manager

Jennifer holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies with Languages (German and Spanish).  She is also an active member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has commenced working towards her Chartered Marketer status.  Having spent her childhood partially in Cologne (Germany) and Exeter, she was brought up multi-lingual and likes to put these into practise every opportunity she gets.  Jennifer's industry knowledge not only lies within the franchising industry but also the corporate sector, which has enabled her to gain experience in a wide spectrum of events ranging from: exhibitions, conferences, seminars, charity auctions, team building days out, award ceremonies and many more. She has a great flair for creativity and always comes up with brilliant ideas the rest of us haven't thought of!

Jennifer loves keeping active by going to the gym and attending a whole crazy variety of dance classes!  She is currently teaching herself how to play the piano too.  Jennifer loves travelling and ensures she squeezes in some holidays every year, Thailand being the most recent destination.