The British Franchise Association (bfa) has opened its doors to franchise owners as voting members for the first time in its history.

The Franchisee Membership programme, which is already attracting its first members just days after launch, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and completes the bfa’s representation of the three main stakeholders of the franchising industry. It is already the UK accreditation body for franchisors and professional advisors to the sector, but with this new engagement the UK will see a new level of business collaboration among thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises.

In addition to the opportunity for election to the board of the bfa, franchise owners joining the bfa can access new interactive training, advice services, cost-saving benefits and a variety of resources. Membership is deliberately limited to only franchise owners of bfa member companies, which have already been accredited as ethical franchise networks, covering over one-third of the UK’s 40,000 franchise owners.

Brian Smart, Direct General of the bfa, said: “By engaging franchisees directly we are able to further strengthen the ethics and standards of the industry, which has always been at the heart of our work. This has been echoed by the support and enthusiasm of our franchisor and professional advisor members, who have fully embraced this collaborative process, including the recent appointment of three franchisees to our board of directors.”

Ken Bevis, one of the bfa’s franchisee board members and chairman of the Franchisee Membership Committee, added: “This has been an immensely challenging development involving many considerations both for the benefits of existing members and for future franchisee members. I have been honoured to be a part of such an important leap forward for UK franchising and UK business in general. I now encourage franchisees to take advantage of this opportunity to be properly represented in franchising, interact with the bfa and contribute to the future evolution of their industry.”

Published: 18 July 2012

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