The British & International Franchise Exhibition Proves a Success for Both Visitors and Exhibitors

The British & International Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference, attracted over 13000 visitors to Olympia in London who were searching for exciting franchise businesses.

At the event the visitors found thousands of opportunities available from over 200 leading British and overseas franchise companies. The seminars presented by managing directors of companies such as iSold It, Sandler Sales Institute and www.thebestof.co.uk proved very popular, while Bobby Hashemi, co-founder of the highly successful Coffee Republic chain, drew a vast audience to his presentation.

The event was acclaimed by visitors and exhibitors alike. Alan Murdoch, a retail area manager, based in Tring, Hertfordshire, said: “I’ve greatly increased my knowledge and understanding of the franchise sector and found several ideas I will investigate further. It‘s been a valuable day that I would definitely recommend to others.”

Derek Wilson, a car mechanic from Hove, said: “This is my first time at The British & International Franchise Exhibition and I came here open minded. I’m very interested in three potential businesses.”

Meera Hindocha, a lecturer from Woking, Surrey, commented: “I’ve been looking for potential franchise options that would appeal to me. Today I’ve come across ideas I had never even thought of before and I’m leaving with two very strong possibilities.”

Exhibitor comments

The event was also a success for exhibitors. David Mercer, Managing Director of Dent Wizard International, remarked: “The show has generated hundreds of strong leads with serious investors. Of particular interest was the high number of enquiries from overseas investors.”

Mike Dickerson, Director of Community Times, said: “Our first exhibition has been incredibly successful. We have agreed outline terms with 43 franchisees and confidently expect a further 30 to 50 completed franchise agreements during the next six weeks.”

Chris Gibson, Regional Vice President of Sign A Rama, commented: “We hope to attract ten new franchise business partners from this show.”

Kevin Cox, Managing Director of Antal International, commented: “In terms of volume of quality visitors, this has been the best show in four or five years!”

One of the highlights of The British & International Franchise Exhibition is the presence of innovative new businesses such as iSold It, the leading eBay drop-off shop chain from the USA.

“The British & International Franchise Exhibition provided the perfect platform to launch this new phenomenon in the UK. We were overwhelmed by the response we received at the exhibition," said Phillip Molloy, UK Managing Director of iSold It.

The Growing Your Own Business Conference was also exceptionally well received by visitors. It profiled leading entrepreneurs and industry speakers offering invaluable lessons and advice to delegates on the key areas of being in business. Speakers at this year’s London event included James Murray Wells, founder of the groundbreaking GlassesDirect.co.uk, and investor and entrepreneur Jan Spaticchia, co-founder of Energie Fitness Group. The Business Advice Zone, in which small business experts provided one-to-one guidance to visitors, also proved very popular.

Visitor Sharon Thomas, a pre-start business entrepreneur from Hammersmith, commented: “I came to the show to gain general business advice, financial marketing insight, and help with costing, networking and other ideas. I managed to pick up many valuable tips at the Growing Your Own Business seminars.”

Over 60 budding entrepreneurs eagerly presented their business ideas to the producers of the BBC TV series Dragons’ Den hoping to seek investment from the Dragons in the next series.

David Tuck, Franchise Sales Manager for The British & International Franchise Exhibition, commented: “This exhibition has always delivered a large number of high calibre, potential franchisees. Overall, the event has been a huge success.”

For more information please contact David Stoch, or Chris Lewis at Clareville Communications DavidStoch@clareville.co.uk Tel: 020 7736 4022 Fax: 020 7736 3504

Forthcoming dates

• The Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Showcase & Conference - Odyssey, Belfast, 12 & 13 May 2006
• The British Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Showcase & Conference – SECC, Glasgow, 2 & 3 June 2006
• The National Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference – NEC, Birmingham, 6 & 7 October 2006
• The Irish Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Showcase & Conference – RDS, Dublin, 17 & 18 November 2006
• The British Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference – G-MEX, Manchester, 26 & 27 January 2007
• The British & International Franchise Exhibition, incorporating the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference - Olympia, London, 23 & 24 March 2007