Franchise Direct has released its annual Top 100 Franchises rankingfor the UK. The report offers an essential look at the top franchises operating across the United Kingdom.
After an in-depth analysis of data of hundreds of brands, Franchise Direct has awarded the top spot to McDonald’s, one of the most recognisable franchises in the world. With approximately 1,100 franchises in the UK, this is the second consecutive year the fast food giant has been named as the No. 1 franchise in the UK, beating off coffee franchises like Starbucks and Costa Coffee.
Top 20 Franchises in the UK 2020
Overview & Trends
The make-up of the Top 20 indicates that well-known brands such as McDonald's, Subway and KFC are still leaders of the franchise industry due to their already established reputation, strong customer base, and clear business identity.
Continuing their dominance of the market, food/coffee franchises account for 40% of the Top 20 rankings. Further down the list, fast food franchises like Burger King and Southern Fried Chicken also make an appearance, while popular coffee houses like Cafe2U and Esquires Coffee continue to compete with their global counterparts. Overall, food franchises account for 15 spots in the Top 100 list.
Children’s franchises prove to be a popular investment option for entrepreneurs, with 12 different franchises featuring prominently in the Top 100 list, four of which are education-related businesses.
In an emerging trend, cleaning franchises are beginning to grow in popularity with four cleaning businesses ranking within the Top 20 alone. For comparison purposes, only four cleaning franchises were named in 2019’s entire report. Moving up to the No. 27 spot from No. 52 in 2019 is Merry Maids, the residential cleaning franchise. Also making a new appearance in the Top 100 is British-based domestic cleaning franchise, Bright & Beautiful.
Further Statistics:
Number of franchise units:
| Franchise with most worldwide units: | Subway - 41600 |
| Most UK units | Costa - 2600 |
| Average International units | 1956 |
| Average UK units | 187 |
Countries featured in Top 100:
| UK Franchises | 55 |
| US Franchises | 31 |
*Other featured countries: Canada / Australia / Austria / Belgium / Denmark / Sweden / Japan (22 of the companies had no international presence)
Methodology
To compile this report, Franchise Direct analyses data and research that is collected by company submitted information, third-party resources and published industry sources, along with deploying the company’s own ranking methodology that was devised in 2009 to first determine the rankings for US franchises.
Objectivity is key for franchise ranking reports as various factors are examined to determine ranking placement such as financial assistance offered to franchisees, or policies like social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
View the rankings in full here
Background
Franchises Direct has been publishing rankings for over 10 years. This UK report was a new addition to the site, having been launched last year, along with the launch of the French Top 100 Franchises. Both reports take inspiration from the US Top 100 ranking, which is regularly cited by industry professionals in North America. The purpose of these rankings is to provide those in the industry an opportunity to compare the franchise market and system.
*Please Note:
The Franchise Top 100 List ranking is not intended to endorse, advertise, or recommend any particular franchise system, nor is it a definitive list.