Franchise Direct UK & Ireland's Franchise Focus is a dedicated resource for potential and existing franchisees to stay informed about the franchise industry. You will find industry news, franchise tips, trends and much more. If you want to know anything franchise related, post a comment here…
In this week’s Franchise Update, we are reporting on the 2010 European Enterprise Awards as well as the publication of a new study by KPMG, which shows promising signs for SME’s.
The 2010 European Enterprise Awards were launched this week by the European Commission’s Enterprise and Industry Director General. The awards seek to recognise entrepreneurial excellence at a regional level. The winners will be announced in May, 2010 by a high-profile jury.
A new study by KPMG found that business confidence has nearly doubled the last quarter as compared to the beginning of the year. 42% of business owners polled in the survey described their current business prospects as ‘good’, while a further 47% of business owners described the UK’s current economic outlook as ‘good’.
In this week’s Franchise Update, we report on Lord Carter’s controversial Digital Britain report and the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants’ call for more guidance for small businesses on tax law.
The Digital Britain report published Lord Carter of Barnes, Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting has been met with controversy from industry officials. David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), has hit out saying that the report is not ambitious enough. Visit Culture.gov to read the the Digital Britain report and decide for yourself.
A new ACCA policy paper highlights certain areas that the association believes require specific attention by governments across the world, including simplifying legislation, tightening the rules on the difference between tax avoidance and evasion and making green tax laws more explicit and accessible. Visit the ACCA’s website to find out more about green tax laws and more!
In this week’s episode of Franchise Update, we bring you news on a report published by the bfa, on the ongoing success of the franchise industry despite the economic downturn as well as what Sir Alan Sugar’s appointment as enterprise tzar will mean for the small business industry.
The British Franchise Association have released a report which shows that over 90% of franchises are trading profitably and the industry contributed over £11 billion to the UK’s GDP last year.
Sir Alan Sugar has been announced as the government’s Enterprise Champion. As part of his appointment, Sir Alan is expected to give advice on how to ensure small businesses and entrepreneurs make the most of the real help available from Government and other organisations. It is expected that he may look at specific areas such as access to finance, prompt payment, how to handle the downturn and how to start a new business.
The bfa have announced plans to launch their “Proud to Franchise”scheme in an effort to encourage more and more people across the UK to give their custom to British franchisees.
This seems like a great idea. Especially during an economic downturn, people want to support local businesses and jobs. If businesses remind the public that they are a franchise outlet, they are also reminding them that this is a local business person who has taken on the brand of a bigger company which may also be British. It is important, especially now, that people understand that buying from a franchise does not mean they are supporting a big corporation but that they are supporting a local business person who decided to bring the franchise’s business concept to their local area. Supporting your local businesses means keeping jobs alive for your neighbours, including franchises regardless of where the franchisor originates.
The bfa’s Dan Archer comments:
“Franchising allows the perfect combination of big company best practice delivered passionately by dedicated local business owners. This mix of good practice and great client focus enables customers to experience a consistent level of service which is rooted in a closer customer relationship. In a time when the service received by customers is regularly questioned, the fact that in most franchise businesses the customer is closer to the owner, should be recognised for the benefit that it brings.
“At one level ‘Proud to Franchise’ is just about franchisees changing the language that they use to describe the business or themselves, so ‘Franchised Outlet’ or ‘Franchise Owner’. It could however, also involve the ‘Proud to Franchise’ logo being used on adverts, press releases being sent out or stickers being placed in their windows or on their vans.”
So keep an eye out for those “Proud to Franchise” logos displayed by your local businesses.
In this week’s Franchise Update, we are bringing you news of this week’s World Trade Week, as well as new small business funding announced by the European Commission.
World Trade Week will run in the UK from June 8th – 12th. As part of World Trade Week, there will be a number of free events organised in cities across the UK, providing businesses with invaluable information on the importance of world trade in creating jobs and business growth.
The European Commission has revealed plans to provide €19 billion of planned European Social Fund expenditure to provide micro-credits for those who would usually have difficulty accessing the necessary funds to set up a business or micro-enterprise.
scheme in an effort to encourage more and more people across the UK to give their custom to British franchisees.
