British franchise brands dominate European franchise finals

Members of the BFA (British Franchise Association) have dominated the finalists’ positions at this year’s European Franchise Awards sponsored by CMS Francis Lefebvre.

The five British companies who made it through to the finals, will be competing alongside franchising colleagues from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Sweden, and Finland in Brussels on 11 September 2025.

Notably, the UK is the only country with finalists in each category.

The UK finalists _[1]and their categories are:

• Franchisor of the Year: Right at Home
• Franchisee of the Year: Jon Radford – Football Fun Factory
• International Brand of the Year: ERA Group
• Emerging Franchise Brand: Canopy Nurseries
• Services to Franchising: Stevens & Bolton

BFA members have a history of success at the EFF awards.  In 2023, Revive, Platinum Wave and Baby Ballet franchisee Jessie Lilley were recognised for their efforts and in 2024 Rise Fitness, Service Master franchisee Siva Kugathas and HP Law also walked away with top awards.

Of the five brands in this years’ EFF finals, two were also big winners at the 2024 BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards in November last year. Right at Home were named Franchisor of the Year (Established) while Football Fun Factory’s Jon Radford took home both the Community Focus Award and the coveted People’s Choice Award.

Alisdair Gray, executive director of the European Franchise Federation (EFF) said: “Once again British franchise brands have shown they lead the way in Europe in this year’s competition. From best in class legal advisors to care for the elderly, UK franchise concepts and service providers are at the top of the tree. We look forward to seeing how all the finalists get on once the awards are announced.”

Pip Wilkins QFP, CEO of the BFA said: “Everyone at the BFA sends our warmest congratulations to each of the finalists and wishes them well for the big night in September. The topic of regulation is regularly being discussed in the UK at the moment, but it is worth noting that despite being unregulated, we are still leading the way in producing first-class franchise brands and we’d hate to see that creativity and passion stifled through unnecessary governmental restrictions. British franchise brands who adhere to the BFA’s strict code of ethical conduct are amongst the best in Europe and we hope those calling for regulation will take heed of this and be proud of our reputation on the world franchising stage.”

For more information about the BFA, visit their profile.

[1] https://www.rightathome.co.uk/franchise-opportunities/  https://thefootballfunfactory.co.uk/ https://uk.eragroup.com/  https://canopynurseries.co.uk/  https://www.stevens-bolton.com/site/what-we-do/business/franchising/.