With just weeks to go, the countdown is on for the biggest event in British Franchising, where keynote speakers, Sara Davies MBE and Piers Linney will set the tone for an inspiring day of learning and connection, but who are you bringing with you this year, the same faces or the future leaders of your brand?

Investment vs results?

Attending an event like the conference means taking staff out of the office for a day and you might be asking yourself if it’s worth the investment of that time?

For one franchisor, it’s an easy ‘yes’.

‘It’s a no brainer’

Ben Brookes, MD of Agency Express, winner of Franchisor of the Year at the BFA HSBC UK British Franchisor Awards in 2013 (Bronze) & 2023 (Gold) explains: “Taking junior staff members to THE franchising event of the year is an absolute no brainer. The opportunity to absorb hundreds of years of franchising experience, and to widen their viewpoint of the franchising community in the UK is invaluable. Where else would you be able to expose your proteges to knowledge and guidance from stacks of seasoned professionals without incurring huge expense?”

Widen their view point

Explaining how he decides who to bring Ben says: “I’d bring everyone if I could!  In reality it tends to be those focussed on the franchise side of the business, but in truth the event benefits anyone who attends and focusses on the awesome content provided. We try to put the junior members forward first because they will benefit most from the experience, it’s not just the knowledge and information they will pick up, but the chance to expand their personal network and build relationships across the franchise community. Normally we aim for three attendees so not only do they get plenty of time with the franchise community, but they also get to debrief their experience with me as they go.”

Investing in future leaders

Does going to the conference have other benefits aside from what attendees might learn and who they might meet? Ben says yes. “The opportunity to represent Agency Express at a cornerstone event is real feather in the cap of the junior staff members. They feel trusted and respected, and that their opinions make a real difference in the direction the business takes as a whole.

Ben ends with: “In the words of multi-billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, creator of more than 40 Virgin brands with a combined annual turnover of around £20 billion: ‘Train people well enough so they can leave but treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.’ The BFA Conference ticks both these boxes beautifully.”

“I learn a lot every time I go”

Jake Abson (28), franchise support co-ordinator at Agency Express is one of the lucky junior members of staff who have been brought along to the BFA conference over the past few years.

“I’ve been to two BFA conferences now, in 2023, the year we won Franchisor of the Year (Gold), last year in 2024 and of course, I’ll be attending again this year. Obviously, I don’t know everyone in the room yet, but through doing my QFP qualification and attending more BFA events like the conference, I’m beginning to get to know people and have found everyone to be very friendly and most importantly, I learn a huge amount every time. I quickly realised that although the leaders of the largest and most successful franchises in the UK are in the room, there are also a lot of support staff there like me, which is great.”

Business changing takeaways

So, what did Jake particularly enjoy about the 2024 conference?  Jake says: “I particularly enjoyed Paul Thompson’s ‘Fireside Chat’ with Pip Wilkins, hearing about how he built the business and sold it a few weeks earlier, but my biggest takeaway was hearing about franchisee league tables and I’m delighted to say that since leaving the conference last year, my MD Ben and I have been working on rolling out our own franchisee league table, something that might not have happened if I hadn’t attended the conference.”

Jake’s already packing his bags ready for this year’s event and it sounds as if he’s on a mission to pick up another great franchising idea to support the Agency Express franchises into 2026 and beyond. Jake says: “I’m already looking forward to this year’s conference, the networking opportunities and I can’t wait to see if there are any more nuggets of gold I can bring back to the business this time.”

The future of franchising

Smart businesses like Agency Express have recognised that Jake and his ilk are not only full of passion and fresh ideas for the industry (including an innate ability to use AI which can leave many older members of the network scratching their heads) but they are also the very real future of franchising and as such we need to be exposing them to the best minds and to allow them to build their own networks at events like the conference. If every brand brought just one future leader along, we’d be investing not just in this year’s conference, but in the next decade of franchising.

Tickets are selling fast and available from: https://www.thebfa.org/bfa-annual-conference/