Franchise Focus Business News…

The British Franchise Association (bfa) last Friday, announced the finalists for this year’s franchise awards. In their 21st year, the awards celebrate franchising across Britain and in particular, highlight individuals which the bfa believe have contributed substantially to the franchise industry over the last year.

2009 was a particularly tough year for the UK economy as it struggled to regain its foothold amidst the great recession, so the awards should be interesting in terms of who the bfa have been the “saviours” of the franchise industry during its toughest times.

Split into three categories, the finalists are:

Franchisor of the Year Award

• Auditel
• Autosmart
• Bluebird Care
• Domino’s Pizza
• Driver Hire
• McDonald’s
• TaxAssist Accountants
• Wiltshire Farm Foods

HSBC Franchisee Support Award

• Countrywide Grounds Maintenance
• Monkey Music
• Revive!
• X-Press Legal Services

Express Newspapers Brand Builder

• Cook
• LighterLife
• Smallprint

The finalists are a good mix of both international brands (McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza) and homegrown British franchises (Auditel, TaxAssist Accountants and Bluebird Care), as well as a wide range of industries from food franchises, to care franchises and right through to white collar franchises in the business and financial sectors. Last year’s winners, Franchisor of the Year – Countrywide Ground Maintenance (gold – first), TaxAssist Accountants (silver – second) and Wiltshire Farm Foods (bronze – third) appear again, marking each franchise as a major player within the British franchise industry.

The winners will be announced on June 2nd at a ceremony in Nottingham and more on the awards can be found on the bfa Franchise Awards site.