International Franchise Week welcomes franchising professionals from around the world to London

International Franchise Week will host delegates from the World Franchise Council (WFC) in London for the first time since 2004. The event has grown three-fold since then and will see the CEO’s and Chairs of 33 countries get together, all with the same aim, to promote the growth of franchising internationally and facilitate best practice in Franchise Association management.

The overall picture of franchising in the UK is an industry sector in great health that continues to prosper despite the economic turbulence. The contribution of franchising to the UK economy is £15.1 billion, an increase of 46% over the past 10 years and up 10% since 2013. The total number of people employed in franchising in the UK is 621,000, of which 321,000 are in full-time employment, an increase of 70% in the past 10 years. Most importantly we have a record 97% of franchisee-owned units reporting profitability and a failure rate of just 2.2% (bfa NatWest Survey 2015).

The week will also play host to an International Franchise Symposium on the 16th and 17th March at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. The British Franchise Association (bfa) will welcome franchising professionals from around the globe to help those that are considering importing or exporting their brands internationally to do it the right way. Speakers from the US, Europe and the UK will be sharing their experiences and guidance on everything from worldwide trends in franchising to financing, marketing, leadership and growth.

Pip Wilkins, Chief Executive at the bfa said “Today more and more franchise businesses are international. We know from our Survey that in the UK, 20% of our franchisors are the master franchisees of businesses from outside the UK. Of our home grown franchisors, 38% now franchise outside of the UK and one in nine brands are considering franchising internationally in the future. The appetite to expand globally is seen all over the world and franchising is the perfect model to support that ambition. We hope that our Symposium and the awareness raised during International Franchise Week will help those ambitions become real”.

More information about the Symposium can be found at: www.thebfa.org/IFW