Franchising – Best Practice Examples From Recent Cases

We outline possible issues when dealing with franchise agreements, along with good practices for the benefit of franchisors and franchisees.

There are over 44,000 franchise businesses in the UK, collectively generating close to £15 billion annually and employing more than 620,000 people. However, unlike in the USA and many other countries, franchise agreements are largely unregulated. We see this reflected in many variations of franchise agreements, both in larger well established networks and some of the smaller operators.

We see a number of issues (which frequently crop up) when franchisors are selling franchises to new franchisees, which can lead to a sale being abortive and/or slowing the sale process. We set out below some points from recent franchise matters that we have dealt with.