At the time, mental health was still widely viewed as a “nice to have” in many commercial environments. Important, perhaps, but separate from performance, profitability or brand sustainability. Five years on, that perception is slowly but meaningfully shifting.
Franchising is a powerful business model, but it comes with unique pressures. Franchisees are business owners, often operating alone, carrying financial risk, responsibility for others, and the emotional weight of running a business day-to-day. Franchisors, meanwhile, are responsible for supporting entire networks while protecting brand standards, culture and commercial outcomes.
Over the past five years, I’ve worked with hundreds of franchisees and franchisors to address those realities head-on. Through training, consultancy and leadership support, the focus has always been practical and preventative. Helping leaders spot issues earlier, have better conversations, and put structured support in place before problems escalate into crisis, absence or attrition.
This approach has clear commercial benefits. Stronger leadership capability, improved decision-making, healthier network culture and fewer reactive interventions all contribute to more resilient, sustainable franchise systems. When wellbeing is treated as a core business function rather than an afterthought, brands are better equipped to perform over the long term.
The work has also helped challenge long-standing stigma. I’ve had people openly tell me at the start of sessions that they believe stress is simply “part of the job” and that mental health is overplayed. What’s been encouraging is that, without exception, those conversations evolve. When leaders understand the tangible impact of mental fitness on productivity, performance and retention, the conversation moves from scepticism to strategy.
Along the way, the work has been recognised through industry awards, being named a British Franchise Association Academy Partner for Mental Health and Wellbeing, running the sector’s first national mental health and wellbeing survey, and helping lead the first National Franchise Wellbeing Week.
Five years in, this work is no longer about proving that mental wellbeing matters in franchising. It’s about helping franchisors embed it confidently and commercially into how they lead their networks. As expectations on franchise brands continue to rise, there is a growing need to evidence how people are supported in practice, not just in principle. Frameworks such as the our Cinder Franchise Well Accreditation provide a clear, structured way for franchisors to do exactly that, strengthening leadership capability while protecting performance and brand reputation for the long term.
