Franchising holds its own as the recession bites

Good news for anybody considering franchising as their route to self-employment: according to the 2009 NatWest/bfa survey overall profitability levels in the franchise industry remain strong, despite recessionary pressures in the general economy. The franchise industry overall contributed £11.4 billion to the UK’s GDP last year while 90% of franchises responding to the survey were trading profitably, unchanged from the previous year. While commentators are telling us that this recession is the worst in a generation these figures compare very favourably with the height of the last recession in 1990 when just over 70% of franchises reported profitable trading.

Brian Smart, director general of the bfa, says, “There is little indication so far of the recession having a severe impact on the franchise industry. It seems franchised businesses are in a much stronger position as they have the additional protection of a proven business model and brand, and are a lower risk option for customers.”

This is certainly borne out by our experience at Auditel. Not only are we seeing an increase in the number of high calibre candidates for new franchises but demand for our consultants’ services has increased too as organisations in every sector look to manage costs effectively and to out-source expertise rather than take on costly in-house resources.

If you’re interested in starting your own home-based business you can find out more about the Auditel franchise opportunity by downloading a copy of our e-brochure or by coming along to one of our discovery seminars.