The British Franchise Association has published its list of finalists for this year’s HSBC-sponsored BFA Awards’ ceremony. Often described as the ‘Oscars’ of the franchising world, this year’s gathering in Birmingham will recognise the leading UK businesses across numerous categories.
These prestigious awards will be shared among franchisors and franchisees alike, with the winners collecting their gongs at a black-tie dinner at The Vox Conference Centre (B40 1PU) on Thursday, November 9th. The ceremony will take place after the BFA’s annual conference at the same venue. This annual event, which celebrates excellence in UK franchising, is being staged for the 35th time.
The 2023 finalists are as follows:
FRANCHISOR CATEGORIES
Franchisor of the Year Award
ActionCOACH, Agency Express, Driver Hire, InXpress, Mathnasium, Premier Education.
Emerging Franchisor Award
Canopy, Get a Drip, Rise, The Cat Butler.
Franchisor of the Year (Lifestyle Award)
Dog First Aid, Extra Help, Pink Spaghetti, Harmony at Home.
Leadership and Culture Award
Greene King, Revive! Auto Innovations, Snap Fitness, Visiting Angels.
Franchisor Trailblazer Award
Fastsigns, GoodOaks Home Care, Water Babies.
Brand Awareness Award
Snap Fitness, Speedy Freight, Water Babies.
FRANCHISEE CATEGORIES
Next Generation Award
ChipsAway (Brandon Akerman),
Driver Hire (Connor Ferguson),
Snap-on Tools (Luke Henderson).
Lifestyle Award
Computer Xplorers (Richard & Emily Simcox),
Get Ahead (Kristy Roff & Suzanne Evett),
Mini First Aid (Jen Fisher),
Puddle Ducks (Ellie Cawdwell).
Community Focus Award
Costa Coffee (Diljit Brar),
Home Instead (Anitra Camargo),
McDonald’s Restaurants (Ian Stephenson),
Merry Maids (Debbie Walker).
Franchisee Trailblazer Award
ServiceMaster (Siva Kugathas),
Concept Claim Solutions (Gary Dimond),
Mathnasium (John Preston),
Swimtime (Fiona Marshall).
HSBC Best in Class Multi-Unit Single Brand Award
Home Instead (Suhail Rehman),
Pret a Manger (James Lipscombe),
Swimtime (Terri & Andrew Vince).
HSBC Best in Class Multi-Unit Brand Award
Adil Group (Raja Adil),
Goldex Investments (Diljit Brar),
Ice King (Angelina Mouralidarane).
Chief executive of the BFA, Pip Wilkins, said: “We were very impressed with the overall standard of entries we received this year. It was great to see new brands entering for the first time which highlights that the strength of the next generation of franchisors and franchisees appears to be excellent.
“There were some particularly impressive entries in the Leadership and Culture and Trailblazer categories. It was wonderful to see brands referencing milestones as part of their entries. We shortlisted more entries than we usually do, which is testament to the overall strength of entries we received.
“Gillian (Morris of HSBC) and I would like to thank everyone who entered, as we appreciate the amount of time and hard work that goes into preparing each entry. We are happy to provide feedback to brands that were not successful this year, so they can come back stronger next time.”
Gillian Morris, HSBC’s UK Head of Franchise in Commercial Banking, added: “Shortlisting the candidates is one of the toughest challenges each year. Once again, the candidates were of a very high standard, and it was extremely tough to shortlist in all categories.
“I was really impressed at the diversity of entries across brands and sectors. This illustrates the current strength and reach of the franchise industry. I am looking forward to meeting the finalists in November.”
Among the franchises up for more than one award, are: Home Instead, Mathnasium,
Snap Fitness, Swimtime and Water Babies. Meanwhile, Diljit Brar is shortlisted in two categories with different franchise brands.
Note: The British Franchise Association (BFA) is the voluntary self-regulating governing body for franchising. It was formed in 1977 by franchising organisations that wanted to promote franchise systems which satisfied a strict ethical and business criteria.
Business format franchising is the granting of a license by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee). This entitles the franchisee to trade under the trade mark/trade name of the franchisor. The BFA has a full list of its members, as well as the code of ethics to which these members subscribe, on its website: www.thebfa.org.
