At its AGM in December the BFA announced several new board appointments, including Kevin Cox of Antal International Network, Derrick Simpson, from Prontaprint, and Sean Derrig of Snap-on Tools.

Last year’s efforts to grow its membership across all categories saw the BFA pass the significant milestone of 100 full members. It now has 274 franchised brands in membership; 122 full, 61 Associate and 91 Provisionally Listed companies, and 97 Affiliates. The BFA also worked hard throughout each of the four major franchise exhibitions to encourage companies with exhibition accreditation to move into BFA Membership.

“The conversion rate was good last year,” says deputy director Simon Wise. “It was encouraging to see more franchises with exhibition accreditation recognise the benefits of taking the next step towards membership.”

In light of the drive for new members, the BFA held two successful open days for prospective members. Held in February and October these were attended by 50 franchise brands, three of who successfully applied for BFA membership as a result.

As in previous years, work on aspects of legislation that affect franchising was handled by Director General Brian Smart and the BFA’s honorary legal consultant, Martin Mendelsohn. One of their key roles last year was to monitor the Enterprise and Competitions Act, where the removal of the exemption for vertical agreements brought all of UK franchising within the scope of the regulatory framework of the European Block Exemption Regulation for Distribution.

That regulation had been substantially influenced by the BFA through its role in the work and governance of the European Franchise Federation (EFF), which now represents the 18 leading franchise nations within the European Union and its applicant countries.

The BFA website, www.british-franchise.org.uk has become increasingly valuable as a research tool. Last year it was used by 30 per cent of prospective franchisees who went on to buy a franchise. Almost 40 per cent of BFA member franchisors now recruit a substantial number of franchisees through the BFA website, for some, a majority of the number they recruit each year.

Capitalising on the popularity of the main website, the BFA launched a new service last year, www.3rings.biz. This website promotes the products and services offered by BFA members both within the industry, encouraging more business-to-business between BFA member brands, and most significantly to members of the general public and the business community at large, who will benefit from the quality standard provided by a BFA franchise outlet.

Simon Wise played a key role in leading the BFA’s involvement as a lead partner in the European Social Fund supported project CREATE, which aims to increase access for disadvantaged groups to enterprise through franchising.

He says: “This is the first opportunity we have had to access European funding to promote franchising to as wide a group of people as possible, and it is proving to be very successful.”

For more information on franchising visit the BFA website at www.british-franchise.org.uk