The National Franchise Exhibition, the UK’s largest franchise event, will be held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, on Friday and Saturday, October 2 and 3.
The exhibition is organised by the Venture Marketing Group, whose annual series of four franchise shows at London, Birmingham (2) and Manchester are the only such events in which the franchisors are accredited by the sector’s self-regulatory body, the BFA.
This is important to visitors to ensure that the franchises they offer conform to the association’s strict code of ethical business practice, particularly in the fairness of their franchise contracts towards franchisees.
The exhibition will showcase a variety of sectors including food and drink, property, retail, care, fitness, cleaning and children’s activities.
The Birmingham event provides an opportunity for any aspiring business owners to meet face-to-face with industry experts, who can help them get on the road to starting a business.
The organisers say that according to a report by StartUp Britain, there were over 581,000 new businesses launched in 2014. Of those new businesses, 18,337 were registered in Birmingham, making it the UK’s most entrepreneurial city outside London.
Anytime Fitness, the health and fitness franchise, will be sponsoring the exhibition and will be among the established brands exhibiting along with, Agency Express, Chopstix Noodle Bar, Dream Doors, McDonald’s, Platinum Property Partners and The Creation Station.
There will also be an extensive seminar programme, offering over 60 free seminars, where a range of professionals will discuss the required tools and advice to set-up and manage a successful franchise business.
Representatives from the BFA, business advisers, legal and financial professionals, franchisors and franchisees will cover a range of relevant topics. This provides a unique opportunity for visitors to raise questions and have them debated before a public audience.
Franchisee success stories
At the Real Franchise Stories sessions, a panel of four successful franchisees from various franchises, will report on how they chose their franchise and how successful was their franchisor in training them and helping them to open and develop their business.
McDonald’s will be holding Franchisee Recruitment Open Sessions. This invaluable seminar offers visitors a rare insight into one of the world’s most successful brands. Visitors will be able to meet face-to-face with McDonald’s staff and learn about the company’s first-class franchisee training programme. It will be looking for potential franchisees with a hardworking approach to running a customer orientated business.
For visitors looking for a high-end franchise, there will be a VIP lounge at which they can hold private and discreet one-to-one meetings with their selected franchisors.
The experts from Franchise Finance will be holding a finance clinic, offering visitors help in raising funds for their new career path. Personal Career Management will also be facilitating a careers clinic. It aims to help visitors establish their skill set and match them to the most suitable opportunities.
Appropriately, the Creation Station, which is itself a franchise, will run one of its children’s activity centres to look after visitor’s children, under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
In addition to franchising, the event will include the Growing Your Own Business workshops. Entrepreneurs will be offering advice on raising finance through crowdfunding, social media, SEO trends, publicity generation and how to boost sales.
The event will also feature two keynote speakers. Gareth Davies, Papa John’s UK and Ireland vice-president will present, ‘Broom closet to boardroom – the Papa John’s way.’
Nick Telson, co-founder of designmynight.com will present, ‘The crucial element to building a successful start-up’. The online company showcases thousands of bars, clubs and events that can be booked in advance on the site. The company also offers a party planning service for special occasions.
Visitors can have free admission to the exhibition with the ticket on the cover of this magazine or by registering at www.franchisetickets.co.uk and entering the promotional code VMG5 to save £15.
The exhibition will open from 10am each day, closing at 5pm on the Friday and 4pm on the Saturday.