With franchises currently operating in the U.K., Canada, Germany, Malta, Spain, Gibraltar and Australia, presence in Lithuania marks the start of Stagecoach’s expansion to a new international territory. Master franchisee, Kęstutis Staniulionis, and first franchisee, Dovilė Staniulionienė, have launched Stagecoach Vilnius, which will offer classes and holiday workshops for young children and teenagers.
Married couple Kęstutis and Dovilė recently moved back to Vilnius after living in Germany for 11 years. Their daughter attended Stagecoach during their time in Germany, and its profound impact on her confidence and independence inspired Kęstutis and Dovilė to become franchisees.
“Stagecoach takes a fresh approach to teaching children to develop their skills in performing arts, and in life. Rather than preparing children to be professionals, Stagecoach encourages them to explore a range of performing arts and to connect with themselves and the energy that performing brings. We’ve seen first-hand how beneficial this approach is, and we’re delighted to be able to instill Creative Courage for Life in young people in Lithuania,” explained Kęstutis.
With a background in management and logistics, and experience running an e-commerce company, Kęstutis brings a wealth of commercial expertise to his role as master franchisee. “My experience optimizing client accounts and as a business owner will be put to good use as I develop Stagecoach’s presence across Lithuania. This is a huge project, and something I feel so passionate about – I cannot wait to see what we can build here in Lithuania,” said Kęstutis.
Dovilė’s experience lies in the arts; as a piano player and lifelong musician, her work has involved teaching music to groups of students. She added: “As a teacher myself, supporting other teachers to bring a first-class creative learning environment to students is top of my priority list. I’m excited to build a team of passionate and enthusiastic teachers, qualified to bring out the very best in their students.”
All new franchisees in Lithuania will complete a three-month induction program and have the option to join a franchisee-to-franchisee mentoring scheme. A robust franchise model, Stagecoach’s network includes more than 300 franchisees, operating over 3,000 schools, now in eight countries.
Fully supportive of the Lithuania expansion, Andy Knights, CEO of Stagecoach, said: “We’re thrilled to bring Stagecoach to Lithuania, where we know Kęstutis and Dovilė will do a wonderful job progressing our program and supporting young people to go on to do incredible things in the performing arts and other creative industries. Bringing the right people into the Stagecoach global network is of utmost importance, and we’re so excited to see the family grow in Lithuania.”
