Start your franchise career at highly anticipated Northern Exhibition

Following recent announcements of building a ‘Northern Powerhouse’, the North West’s economy has been put in the spotlight.

The city is already thriving with entrepreneurial spirit with the launch of 13,054 new businesses in Manchester last year. Further afield, the wider North West area has seen significant economic expansion over the last 10 years, with towns like Warrington increasing its number of new businesses by 30 per cent in 2013 – proving that the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is already well underway. As confidence in UK businesses continues to grow, the upcoming British Franchise Exhibition gives ambitious businessmen and women the inspiration to start their own venture and contribute to the strength of the local and national economy.

One individual who found inspiration at the exhibition was Kevin Keeler, who became an Agency Express franchise owner in early 2012. With 27 years of experience in the fire service as the Bristol Divisional Commander, in charge of six fire stations and 330 people, he made the decision to take a change of direction in his career. Visiting the exhibition, Kevin gained invaluable insight into the world of franchising, and was able to seek advice from industry experts.

Kevin comments: “Visiting the exhibition was a real turning point in my career. Having the opportunity to meet an established brand like Agency Express and hear about the franchise options they had available gave me the confidence and final push I needed. I now own a successful business which continues to grow.”

This summer, the return of The British Franchise Exhibition will showcase to visitors the many benefits of running a business. The North’s largest franchise event will offer aspiring franchise owners the rare chance to discuss potential ventures with franchise brands offering regional opportunities. With more than 500,000 Brits now employed in franchising across the UK and an industry turnover amounting to £13.7 billion, there hasn’t been a better time to explore the proven success of the franchise model.

Sponsored this year by the world’s number one health and fitness brand, Anytime Fitness, the two-day event will bring together industry experts, franchise brands and potential franchise owners from across the North of the UK.

Attendees will have the rare opportunity to meet one-on-one with top brands, all of which meet the British Franchise Association’s (bfa) strict guidelines. As the only franchise event in the north supported by the bfa, visitors can trust that every exhibitor has shown proven results and meet the association’s strict code of ethics.

Pip Wilkins, Head of Operations at the bfa, comments on why visiting a bfa-approved event is crucial to aspiring franchise owners research process: “The British Franchise Exhibition is an excellent way to start researching, with a combination of informative seminars and the chance to meet face-to-face with a wide variety of accredited franchisors and advisers, across a number of business sectors.

Speakers at the bfa’s exhibition seminars are all longstanding experts in their field, providing outstanding access to a wealth of information, and the bfa team are always on hand to provide objective advice.”

Exhibitors will represent a wide cross-section of industries, each offering a range of high to low investment options. Established brands, such as McDonald’s, Clarriots Care, Anytime Fitness, Esquires Coffee, Platinum Property Partners, Dream Doors, Progressive Sports and Ewe Move will be on hand for in-depth discussions and showcasing the exciting new opportunities they have to offer.

A variety of free additional features, as well as first hand guidance from industry experts, will also be available to those attending the exhibition. This includes an extensive seminar programme offering more than 40 free seminars. Here, a range of professionals will discuss the required tools and advice to set up and manage a successful UK franchise business. Representatives from the bfa, business advisers, legal and financial professionals, franchisors and franchise owners will cover a range of relevant topics. These include an introduction to franchising, how to avoid any pitfalls and how to raise finance for your franchise.

In addition, visitors can put their questions to the ‘Real Franchise Stories’ panellists. These interactive open-floor discussions will feature current franchise owners that will provide detailed accounts of their business journey. These interactive sessions give attendees insightful and personal details from those who have fully experienced the transition into running a franchise. Visitors can find out why they chose to invest in a franchise, what issues they had to overcome – if any – and in hindsight, whether they’d make the same decisions again.

Adrian Goodsell, Franchise Sales Director at Venture Marketing Group, comments: “With the North of England set to see an increase in power and growth, this is prime time for entrepreneurs to come and speak to regional experts about possible business ventures.

Offering some top tips to making the most of the event, Adrian advises:

• Come prepared – Do some research on the sector you’d like to go into beforehand so that you have specific questions to come to the exhibition with.
• Visit the website and you can browse the extensive exhibitor list and pre-book appointments with brands of interest.
• Attend the many seminars and keynote speeches on offer at the exhibition: These will give you first-hand advice from those who have already experienced the franchise journey.

A highly popular feature at The British Franchise Exhibition, The McDonald’s Open Sessions, will be returning once again to EventCity. This invaluable seminar offers visitors a rare insight into one of the world’s most successful franchises. Visitors will be able to meet face-to-face with McDonald’s staff and learn about the company’s first-class franchise owners training programme.

With currently more than 1,200 restaurants in the UK which serve more than three million customers every day, this is an unmissable opportunity for those interested in breaking into the food industry. McDonald’s will be looking for potential franchise owners with a hard working approach to running a customer orientated business.

Along with seminars and workshops, the exhibition will also offer one-to-one advice clinics. The experts from Franchise Finance will be holding a Finance Clinic offering visitors help with drafting a business plan or raising funds for their new career path. Career choices can be hard to make without support, that’s why Personal Career Management will be facilitating a Careers Clinic on both days of the event. This aims to help visitors establish their skill set and match them to the best suited opportunity available.

The British Franchise Exhibition takes place at EventCity, Manchester on June 19 and 20 2015. Visitors can gain free entry by registering online at www.franchisetickets.co.uk and entering the promotional code FMJ3 (saving £10). Follow the event on Twitter @UKFranchising, Like the Franchiseinfo page on Facebook and join The Franchise Exhibitions on LinkedIn for more updates.