Applying for exhibition accreditation
Who needs to apply?
Unless your company is a member of the bfa, you must be first assessed and granted ‘exhibition accreditation’ status to exhibit. Accreditation is undertaken by the bfa at no cost to you; it is part of the bfa’s way of maintaining ethical standards in franchising, and especially at exhibitions bearing its name.
How do I apply?
You must send to the bfa a fully completed application form accompanied by all of the supporting information and documentation that is clearly stated on the form. Once all of this is received, a decision can normally be made and advised within one week. If the application form is incomplete or some of the supporting documentation missing, the process will take longer.
Advising the outcome
Assuming your franchise appears to meet bfa standards, we will advise you of such together with how long the accreditation will remain valid. If however your application does not meet our criteria, the application will be rejected (and we will inform you of the grounds). This then gives you an opportunity to rectify the offending issue(s) and resubmit your application.
Delays
If you delay submitting your application until the last moment, you run the risk that you will not be cleared to exhibit, and have no time remaining in which to rectify any problem areas. It is the responsibility of the potential exhibitor to allow enough time for the process of finding out whether they will be permitted to exhibit.
Guidelines to the bfa’s requirements and standards
The following are only guidelines. For full details, contact the bfa.
Application form: We need to receive your application form, completed in full (the original, not a faxed or emailed version). This can be acquired from the bfa by contacting us on 01235 820 470.
Franchisor’s accounts: We require a set of accounts for your business (i.e. the franchisor business). Ideally these should be no more than 6 months old.
The franchise business model: We need evidence that will explain the structure of the franchise business model. Ideally this will be in the form of a business plan that includes a two-year projected P&L a/c showing your expectations of a franchisee.
The presentation of illustrative financial projections: All financial projections need to be properly disclosed and disclaimed, as required by the Code of Ethics for Franchising.
Operations Manual and Training Programme: We would like to see some evidence of the existence of, and an idea of the scope of, your Operations Manual and your training programme.
On-going support and services for franchisees: You should include a summary of the on-going support that you will be giving your franchisees.
Franchise agreement: We require a copy of the franchise agreement (in finished form) that is to be offered to franchisees, so as to be able to check that it appears to confirm with the European Code of Ethics for Franchising.
