Recent debates in the House of Commons about franchising have been an eye-opener. First, we have got through to a number of MPs the basic facts about franchising. Second, they think it is generally a good thing - the sort of business that provides employment and helps people, who otherwise only dreamt of owning their own business, to realise their ambitions and secure their futures.

Of course, the occasion of these debates was some alleged franchisee misfortune. But it is clear that our legislators know a sector cannot be judged on individual cases. If it were, it would never have reached a turnover approaching £11bn, or employ something like 360,000 people. Franchising is by a long chalk the safest and surest way into profitable business on your own account. It is also, incidentally, the repository of a vast knowledge about the operations of small businesses and, sooner or later, this is going to be recognised by politicians.

This then is the sector that this directory - the 24th in the series - is about. It brings to you a steadily growing phenomenon of industry and commerce which offers a seemingly infinite variety of ways of making a living. It would be growing faster if franchisors were able to find more good franchisees. The difficulty of identifying them is the major constraint on expansion. Let us hope that this directory eases the problem.

In the meantime, allow me as president of the British Franchise Association, the only organisation representing business-format franchising in Britain, to pay a few well-earned tributes to those who have built British franchising. We were fortunate in the standards laid down by the pioneers, and those who have built upon their example and involved themselves in franchising's governance. We continue to benefit enormously from the self-regulation of franchising through the BFA and we are beginning to feel benefits from the efforts to involve franchisees in the development of franchising through the Franchisee Forum.

Franchising is also singularly fortunate in the way its press and support services - banks, lawyers, consultants, etc. - involve themselves in its development.

This directory is, as it were, a signpost at the entry to the dynamic world of British franchising. I hope it guides many people, who want to make a success of their business and their lives, into it.

Bernard Ingham
President, British Franchise Association

© 2007 Franchise World

Reprinted from the Franchise World: 2008 British Franchise Directory and Guide.

 

FOREWORD
By Sir Bernard Ingham
President, British Franchise Association