By Kendall Braddock HSBC Franchising Department
Out with a Bang
As the year draws to a close we look at how the UK franchising sector fared during 2010. Now the nights are drawing in and bonfire night is just round the corner – a sure sign that the end of the year isn’t far away. I thought I would reflect on how the UK franchising sector has fared during 2010.
Hard Times?
There is no denying that 2010 has been a difficult year for UK businesses. The economic recession forced sweeping changes in strategy for many businesses, add to this the uncertainty of a general election, increased unemployment and reported lack of available credit and it’s not surprising many firms have struggled. However, franchising has remained fairly resilient during these difficult times. This is mainly due to the wide spectrum of industries covered by franchised businesses, the strength of the business model and the support provided by franchisors and other franchisees within the same networks.
Evidence of Hard work
Nowhere is this success more evident than this year’s bfa HSBC Franchisee of the Year Awards. Financial stability and growth, innovation, creativity and the relentless pursuit of success were just a few traits demonstrated by this year’s finalists. The overall winner, Gerald Thompson of McDonalds showed that the key to his success is building a relationship with his local community.
Achieving results
Despite being part of a global corporation, he has successfully created local restaurants for local communities through his involvement with a number of local youth football teams, contributing to local prison programmes and proactively engaging with young people with activities such as a Midnight Basketball Initiative. This is just one example of the strength of franchising and HSBC has seen this repeated many times during the years we have been involved with the sector.
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