Franchise Focus Business News…

On 14th and 15th February, the greatest franchise exhibition of the year was held in the ExCel Exhibition Centre, London. We just couldn't miss it, and three of our sales team travelled from Franchise Direct's European Head Offices in Dublin to set up stand and converse with franchise clients and potential franchisees. Here UK editor Ann-Marie gives us a day-by-day report on the whirlwind trip that they enjoyed so much. Read more.

In these days of damage caused by natural disaster, most franchisees can turn to franchisors for financial and emotional assistance. However, claiming insurance is often still a necessity in order to make the small business operational again. Read more.

The biggest franchise exhibition of the year is next month…have you put it in your diary? Read more.

The new year is approaching, and it’s a good time to consider starting membership in a new network. There are quite a few associations and groups relevant to franchisors and franchisees in the UK, and here we provide a list of short descriptions of each one. Read more.

Franchise Direct are proud to announce that their first video advert has been made. The 30 second piece is a fun cartoon titled ‘Franchise Direct Makes You the Boss’ that shows how people from all backgrounds can run their own business by getting into the franchising system. The video shows four people: one who lost his job, one who wants to work from home after having a child, one... Read more.

In this article Michael Johnson, the Managing Director of the market-leading franchise Card Connection, gives his opinion on how technology will affect franchising in the future: in the areas of efficiency, business models, training, marketing, franchisors’ responsibilities, and positives and negatives. Read more.

Much emphasis has been placed on women in franchising – even Franchise Direct have a valuably informative section on the topic in our site’s info centre. But last week saw International Men’s Day, while men make up 72% of the UK’s franchisees. Shouldn’t they be getting a blog of attention too? Read more.

Here Ulster Bank’s Business Manager answers questions about the bank’s views on franchising, their extensive preparation for last month's expo, and whether or not they’ll do it all again next year. Read more.

Many franchisees will not have acted as a boss before, and while the franchisor’s training will usually provide guidance on how to hire and monitor staff, carrying the task out can be a culture shock. For some it results in becoming authoritarian, while others may try too hard to be their employees’ best friend, thus losing respect. Staying away from these phrases will help to strike a balance between the two. Read more.

Hurragh, some encouraging GDP data. A 0.8% increase in national output in the third quarter of 2013 means that the British economy is growing at its fastest pace in more than three years. The Office for National Statistics has announced that expansion occurred across all four sectors; solid performances that are leading to declarations from optimists such as chancellor George Osborne that the... Read more.