Franchising key facts

Franchising is often referred to as an industry in its own right. This is largely due to its scale and the common use of ‘business format franchising’ as a growth model by the businesses within. However, franchising spans many industries, from home-run domestic services to world renowned high street brands. Franchising is a business model used in the ‘business to business’ (B2B) and ‘business to consumer’ (B2C) fields, with both blue and white collar successes.

The British Franchise Association’s list of accredited members demonstrates the scope of business types in franchising.

The following statistics are from the NatWest/bfa Franchise Survey 2012:

Franchise industry statistics

Industry annual turnover: £13.4 billion
Number of franchisor brands operating in the UK: 929
Number of franchisee outlets: 40,100
Number of people employed in franchising: 594,000
Percentage of units profitable (including new businesses): 91%

This has grown from an industry that 20 years ago had a turnover of just over £5 billion, had 379 different brands and represented 18,300 franchisee outlets.

See the full overview of the NatWest bfa Franchise Survey