Charlie Dickson, Franchise Consultant at Ashtons Franchise Consulting, is celebrating 45 years of contribution to the franchise sector. His extensive career spans franchisee operations, senior franchisor roles, and consultancy, supporting businesses to scale through franchising.
Charlie began his journey after graduating in Economics, when he was awarded an Esso franchise for a newly built service station on the A1 in Edinburgh. Over 18 years, he helped pioneer c-store development, growing the business to three service stations with retail convenience stores with a turnover of £14m per annum, and earning recognition for retail innovation, sales performance and customer service.
Reflecting on his early career, Charlie said: “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the brilliant teams who helped create and maintain an award-winning business in a highly competitive market.”
Following completion of his MBA at the University of Edinburgh, Charlie took senior leadership roles with several franchisors, including Regional Franchise Manager at Venture Photography, Managing Director at Farmer Autocare, and Director of Franchise & Network Development at Blackcircles.com. At Blackcircles.com, he designed and implemented the franchising strategy, growing the network to over 1,500 partners in six years, delivering a significant profit centre for the business.
Since 2017, Charlie has served as a Franchise Consultant at Ashtons Franchise Consultant, advising SMEs and global brands on developing and launching franchise systems.
“Supporting businesses to scale through franchising has been immensely rewarding,” Charlie commented. “Franchising continues to prove itself as a flexible, energetic, impactful business model – one that offers huge potential for both franchisors and franchisees. I am excited to continue sharing my experience to help businesses grow strategically and at pace through franchising.” Charlie Dickson is an Affiliate of the British Franchise Association (bfa) and is passionate about sharing his extensive franchising expertise. Anyone interested in learning from his experience can get in touch through the Ashtons Franchise website.
