AN entrepreneurial mum who found her way in business after a broken ankle meant she had to change jobs is in line for a gold award.

Pauline Earlies, from Droitwich, who put her house on the line to buy a franchise specialising in care and nursing staff, has reached the national finals of the 2006 British Franchise Association Franchisee of the Year awards.

Now she is hoping to scoop the top title of BFA/HSBC Franchisee of the Year 2006, and walk away with the £5,000 gold winner's cheque at a ceremony sponsored by the bank and Express Newspapers in Birmingham.

The silver and bronze-winning franchisees will also get cheques from HSBC for £3,000 and £2,000, respectively.

Pauline readily admits to not being your typical businesswoman.

"I left school with no qualifications and went to work in my parent's pub," she said.

"Then I joined the military police and travelled the world."

But now she is one of the most successful franchisees in the Care@ healthcare recruitment network.

It all started when Pauline returned to the UK looking for a new career.

She started working for Care@ Worcester as a care assistant but after just three shifts she fractured her ankle.

Being a single parent and needing the income, she moved to an office job. She quickly found her niche in sales and started learning how the franchise she would eventually own, was run.

Since taking over the reins, Pauline has re-established basic principles of quality and service and the company has gone from strength to strength. She is now adding Care@Gloucester to her portfolio.

The prestigious BFA awards - the highlight of National Franchise Week - were launched in April as a celebration of the best-performing franchisees in a booming industry worth an annual £10bn a year to the economy and which now employs more than 360,000 people in the UK.

The ceremony takes place on Thursday, October 5.