The best of the best: 2018 bfa HSBC Franchise Award winners

From care services to home education, the British Franchise Association reveals the best of British businesses in the bfa HSBC Franchise Awards 2018

From home care provision to youth theatre schools and from caring for the nation’s beloved pets to online learning, these are just some of the outstanding businesses that have been announced as winners in this year’s British Franchise Association HSBC Franchise Awards.

The awards ceremony took place on June 28 at the ICC in Birmingham, highlighting some of the best entrepreneurs and businesses in the UK today. The winner for each category:

Franchisor categories

Franchisor of the Year Gold Award:

McDonald’s Restaurants. Silver Award: Agency Express. Bronze Award: Driver Hire Nationwide.

Emerging Franchisor of the Year:

We Love Pets.

Brand Awareness:

Stagecoach Performing Arts.

Award for Innovation:

Tutor Doctor.

Award for Franchise Support:

Revive! Auto Innovations (UK).

Franchisee categories

Young Franchisee of the Year:

Right at Home - Almas Adam (Essex).

Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year:

Razzamataz Theatre Schools - Hayley Limpkin (Medway, Kent).

Customer Focus Franchisee of the Year.

Dyno - Machmade Ltd (RJ, NP, DJ Illingworth) (Merseyside).

Multi-unit Award:

Costa - Diljit Brar (Goldex Investments Group Ltd) (Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Kent).

Network Contribution Award:

InXpress - Neil Hatt (Birmingham).

Franchisee of the Year - People’s Choice Award:

Razzamataz Theatre Schools - Hayley Limpkin (Medway, Kent).

Widely respected

The British Franchise Association is the not for profit, self regulatory governing body for UK franchising and has run its annual awards for nearly 30 years.

Franchising is a simple relationship between two parties - the franchisor, who owns the brand and business system, and the franchisee, who contracts to run a copy of that business in a local area. These widely respected awards recognise both franchisors and franchisees who have demonstrated outstanding business acumen, innovation and achievement.

Pip Wilkins, CEO of the bfa, explains: “It’s over 40 years since the bfa was launched specifically to develop ethical franchising in the UK and I’m proud of the way the sector has grown in that time, with the industry’s turnover exceeding £15 billion - that’s one per cent of the UK’s GDP.

“If you’re running a successful business or want to be your own boss, then franchising is a valid and important option for accelerating your business growth or starting your own commercial venture.

“The bfa HSBC Franchise Awards 2018 are a celebration of the broad church that is franchising in the UK, from a large multinational to a lifestyle business, as franchisors come in all shapes and sizes.

“Every year it’s great to see the excellent work our members demonstrate through their entries and the quality has never been higher. I would like to thank all our finalists in this year’s awards and congratulate our winners - it was an extremely hard job for the judges to separate them.

“It’s great to see such a wide range of businesses represented, as it illustrates the depth and breadth of franchising opportunities in the UK.”