Publisher's comment

Professor Roy Seaman CFE Managing Director and Founder of Franchise Development Services

As a result of the recession, franchising is flourishing on both sides of the market. On the one hand, there is an ever increasing number of people looking to own and operate a franchise while on the other, there are the companies that have survived the recession, realising that an expansion option is franchising.

Franchising has outpaced many sectors before the recession and now it is motoring along at a very rapid pace. Activity can be witnessed as retail operations convert managed stores to franchise-owned, as well as many service-based companies, pursuing the franchise option.

Also, many sectors of business have seen reduced sales while their competitors that have franchised continue to grow and succeed against the outgoing tide of managed locations. There are people now deliberately thinking through the idea of creating businesses that would ideally lend themselves to expansion by franchising.

In the UK there are currently more than 1,400 franchise opportunities according to the latest edition of The UK Franchise Directory and the total turnover runs into billions. This excludes activities relating to the motor trade, where all of their outlets are franchised and petrol filling stations, which operate a form of franchise.

With genuine Business Format Franchising, there are certain brands that stand head and shoulders above the rest.

These are not necessarily famous brands like McDonalds - which is the perfect model - confirming that both the franchisor and the franchise owner practice the win-win tradition. These brands include Northwood Residential Letting, Bluebird Care, Caremark, CeX, plus around a further 100 brands that have totally proven their ability to teach, train, support and motivate franchise owners into really high income situations.

The future for franchising throughout the United Kingdom is looking very bright, especially when you learn that major High Street retailers, such as O2, Orange, Rohan and other retailers are all encouraging existing managers to consider the idea of owning and operating the location they are currently managing. Brands like Swinton Insurance Brokers, Thornton's and Holland & Barrett were the forerunners in converting existing managers to franchise ownership.

There is, therefore, a genuine need for owners of successful businesses to consider the idea of expanding their business by franchising.