Winners of the 2019 bfa HSBC Franchise Awards have been Announced

The winners of the 2019 bfa HSBC Franchise Awards were revealed on 27 June at the Vox, Birmingham.

Hosted by the British Franchise Association (bfa), the awards – now in their 32nd year – celebrate excellence in franchising from both franchisors and franchisees. 

This year’s Franchisor of the Year was Driver Hire, which has been shortlisted for the accolade 13 times in the past 14 years. The Franchisee of the Year award, chosen on the night, went to Kev and Amy Popat from Right at Home. 

The full list of winners is as follows:

Franchisor Awards

Franchisor of the Year

For franchise systems that have evidenced strong infrastructure and support for their network, ensuring franchisees have the best environment to succeed and reach their full potential, as well as demonstrating a passion and commitment to ethical franchising.

Franchisor of the Year (gold): Driver Hire
Franchisor of the Year (silver): OSCAR Pet Foods
Franchisor of the Year (bronze): Window to the Womb

Emerging Franchisor

For businesses that have shown a real passion for their brand and franchising from day one. Finalists demonstrated the implementation of a strong infrastructure built to sustain growth and facilitate potential issues that can occur in infancy.

Winner: Radfield Home Care

Brand Awareness & Innovation

This award could revolve around a new brand, new product or service or even a new piece of technology and what impact this has had on not only the individual franchisees, but the network as a whole.

Winner: énergie Fitness

Leadership & Culture

For businesses that had shown a real passion and commitment to their vision and values.

Winner: McDonald’s Restaurants

Social Enterprise

For franchisors that have built a business to respond to a demand or improve a social economic circumstance.

Winner: Wiltshire Farms Foods

Franchisee Awards

Franchisee of the Year

Winner: Kev and Amy Popat, Right at Home

Young Female & Young Male

Recognising that franchising isn’t all about experience, judges looked for a franchisee who has established a profitable franchise, although they may not have come from a business background.

Young Female winner: Jennie Mills, Rainbow International

Young Male winner: Craig Bishop, Snap-on Tools

Business Transformation

For franchisee businesses that have undergone significant transformation in order to achieve a new level of growth, profitability or efficiency.

Winner: Ed Pockney, Driver Hire

Customer Engagement

For franchisees that go above and beyond in their commitment to deliver the best customer experience in both B2B and B2C businesses.

Winner: Kev and Amy Popat, Right at Home

Multi-unit

For franchisees that have a clear passion for business and have become masters of managing teams.

Winner: Mark Sadleir, Window to the Womb

Lifestyle

For showcasing franchisees who may have bought into franchising to get a better work-life balance or be their own boss and who, through their enterprising nature and determination to succeed, stand out from the crowd of other small-business owners.

Winner: John and Elaine Warburton, Barking Mad 

Pip Wilkins, CEO of the bfa, says: “Congratulations to everybody who won an award, and to all those shortlisted. The franchising industry is showing record growth. There are more franchise systems than ever, and there are more women and young people becoming franchisees. 

“Franchising is able to adapt to societal shifts in culture and needs too, which is a major advantage for businesses in the industry that thrive through change. The franchisees and franchisors that were shortlisted really reflect this.”

Andy Brattesani, UK head of franchising at HSBC, adds: “As longstanding supporters of the awards, it is always fantastic watching the industry come out in force.

“Well done to all of the winners, with the categories showing how diverse the industry is, both in terms of the breadth of services provided by companies and also the opportunities this allows for franchisees to optimise their lifestyle and work culture.”