The 2018 BFA Awards

The 2018 British Franchise Association HSBC Franchisee Award finalists have been revealed

The 2018 bfa HSBC Franchise Awards are a celebration of excellence in franchising, highlighting outstanding business success.

Franchisee award entries are closed, initial judging has taken place and the shortlist of finalists for each award category has been decided. The franchisee award category finalists are:

Young franchisee of the year

The award for under 30s who have established a profitable franchise and achieved success beyond their years:

• Right at Home - Almas Adam (Loughton).
• Little Kickers - Emma Ogden (South East Leicester & Northants).
• Razzamataz Theatre Schools - Helen Bell (Sheffield).

Lifestyle franchisee of the year

For franchisees who have bought a franchise to get a better work-life balance and through their enterprising nature stand out from the crowd:

• Razzamataz Theatre Schools - Hayley Limpkin (Medway).
• ActionCOACH - Lucy Cameron (South East).
• The Christmas Decorators - Louise Walsh (Birmingham).

Customer focus franchisee of the year

An award for franchisees who go above and beyond to deliver the best customer experience in both business-to-business and business to- consumer businesses:

• Molly Maid - Julie Ward and Allison Bayes (Braintree).
• Right at Home - Andrew Davis (Bournemouth & Poole).
• Minster Cleaning Services - James Lofthouse (North & South Sheffield).
• Dyno - RJ, NP, DJ Illingworth, Machmade (Greater Merseyside).

Multi-unit award

For franchisees with more than three units in the same network who can prove their evolution and strategy has demonstrated sustainable growth across their portfolio:

• Costa - Diljit Brar (Goldex Investments Group).
• Pirtek - Jason Woods (Worcester, Gloucester, Kidderminster, Swansea & Cardiff).
• Autosmart - Lee Atkins (Coventry, Rugby & Solihull).

Network contribution award

This is for franchisees who appreciate the benefit of being part of a network and are considered a significant contributing partner to the franchisor and a mentor to the network and which has resulted in increased profitability for their businesses:

• InXpress - Neil Hatt (South Birmingham).
• Sandler Training - Andy McCreadie (South West).
• Mr. Electric - Jeff Longley (North Birmingham).

All finalists will now present their case to a panel of expert judges, which this year include:

• Brian Smart, chair of the judges.
• Pip Wilkins, chief executive, bfa.
• Andrew Brattesani, head of franchising, HSBC.
• Jane Masih, director, Owen White Solicitors.
• Alan Wilkinson, head of UK franchise development, The Franchising Centre.
• Derrick Simpson, bfa companion.

Pip Wilkins says: “Our annual awards are more popular than ever and the quality of entrants made it a tough task to narrow it down to our 16 finalists.

“I would like to thank everyone who entered, as the commitment, passion and effort is apparent in every application.

“Congratulations to all our finalists, as we know that a lot of hard work goes into the applications and presentations and they have done an incredible job to achieve the shortlist.

“Good luck to them all for the night of the awards. I can honestly say that the quality of entrants makes the task of judging a difficult one.”

Winners will be named at the 2018 bfa HSBC Franchise Awards black tie ceremony, held as part of the bfa annual conference, on June 28 at the ICC in Birmingham.