Summary minutes of a Meeting held on Tuesday 21st October at the offices of HSBC, 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf beginning at 11.00am.

Present:

• Sir Bernard Ingham (Chairman)
• Robert Blake - Cash Generator
• Justin Brookes - Mail Boxes Etc
• Richard Haines - Recognition Express
• Sandra Hill - MRI Worldwide
• Shaun Mescall - Apollo Window Blinds

Also Present

• Brian Smart (Director General) - bfa
• Simon Wise (Deputy Director) - bfa
• Catherine Jackson (Accreditation Manager) - bfa

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

   Sir Bernard Ingham chaired the Forum meeting which was attended by five National Franchisee Forum members, and three members of the bfa Staff. Apologies were received from four forum members.

   The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the principle issues in respect of Franchise Re-sales and to gain the forum’s views. The meeting also discussed the means and benefits of communicating the activity of the Forum.

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING AND MATTERS ARISING

   The minutes were accepted as a correct record with the following matter arising:

   Dispute Resolution Procedure

   Final amendments to the paper outlining the Dispute Resolution Procedure incorporating the Franchisee Forum’s input are to be circulated to bfa members following the meeting of the Association’s Accreditation Committee in December.

3. RENEWALS AND RESALES

   The British Franchise Association’s Director General presented a detailed paper addressing key issues surrounding the re-sale of a franchised unit. The Franchisee Forum discussed this paper in detail and considered a wide range of views.

   The power of market forces was recognised by the Forum as being a significant factor in the valuation of a re-sale franchise, whilst acknowledging the interdependence and interests of all parties.

   The forum sought to encourage more franchisors to adopt a structured approach to re-sales that included the development of a formalised exit strategy. The Forum accepted that no clear universal formula could be applied across the board to all networks to value a franchise re-sale.

4. COMMUNICATIONS

   The franchisee forum considered a number of different options for how best to promote their existence and promote their activities to the franchise community as a whole.

   Following discussion it was agreed to include a dedicated section for the National Franchisee Forum on the bfa’s own website. This would provide an effective means to communicate the Forum’s work whilst further promoting the value of franchising with a bfa member and would work towards enhancing the concept of ethical franchising.

   It was also agreed that copies of the Summary minutes for each Franchisee Forum Meeting would be circulated to key franchise media as a further means of promoting the work and progress of the National Franchisee Forum.

5. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

   21 January 2004 Scarman House, Warwick University 11.00 am