THE co-founder of an innovative mother and baby exercise classes has had her business ranked as number 56 in the UK’s top 100 franchise businesses.

Julie Clabby from Stedham near Chichester created Busylizzy with friend Sarah Batterbury.

It was designed to cater for the app-loving, flexibility demanding modern mum on maternity leave,

Busylizzy Family Club was founded in 2011 when the pair saw a gap in the market for a totally new approach to sourcing and booking both ante and post-natal exercise classes and fun and educational classes for pre-school children.

Julie had previously worked as a leisure industry professional and Sarah was a full-time lawyer.

Following enormous success with the pilot model, the pair franchised the business in 2014 and now have 14 franchisees operating in 15 territories across the UK.

It now has 8000 members employing more than 180 freelance instructors.

Julie said: “We are absolutely delighted to be at number 56 in the list of top 100 franchises in the UK.

“There are more than 900 franchise brands in the UK so to even be on this list is truly wonderful news and testament to the hard work, passion and dedication of our entire network.

“When Sarah and I started Busylizzy we wanted to give other mums, like us, a better, more flexible way of attending mother and baby exercise classes.

“From results like this and the tremendous FeeFo recommendations we get, it appears we are well on our way to achieving our goal.”

The company is an associate member of the British Franchise Association.

Busylizzy clubs host a regular timetable of classes each week.

Members pay a monthly membership fee and have the freedom to book, cancel and reschedule classes via the app, up to two hours before the class begins.

Members can choose from over 20 classes in their local area, offering everything from gentle pregnancy exercise through to restorative post-natal yoga and onto fun children’s classes.

Babies and children are welcome at all classes with special baby duvets laid out for them to lay on while the parent exercises, meaning no extra child-care costs.

Julie said: “We are a rapidly growing company and in June 2016 we won the British Franchise Association’s Emerging Franchisor of the Year award.

“We receive new enquiries from people about buying a franchise every day.”