There are many of us that find ourselves in franchising and choose to stay because the industry is people centric, the support is wonderful, and the environment is inspiring. Of the many that make franchising what it is today, there are some stand out examples of people influencing change for the masses and that is why the British Franchise Association has introduced the ‘Franchise Excellence Award’. We are very proud to present the first award to Tony Massey who provided substantial support in his role at HSBC. Today we hear from his colleagues and clients about the impact he had.
“Tony’s role in supporting the franchise industry may not be as visible as others but no less important. For 10 years Tony has led the risk function of the HSBC Franchise Unit, responsible for policies and strategies in relation to lending to new/existing franchisees and franchise systems. To do this effectively he has had to build key relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure they came on the franchise journey with him. Without this trust and leadership HSBC would not have become the leading UK Franchise Bank, which is more than supported by the significantly increased lending sums and client numbers seen over the 10 years of his stewardship. For franchising to be successful, banks need the confidence to invest in franchisees and franchise systems, without Tony ‘banging the drum’ this wouldn’t have happened as quickly in HSBC and logically would have affected the industry as a whole. Tony’s drive for excellence and understanding is wonderfully exampled by the following quote from McDonald’s, seen as the blue-chip Franchise System worldwide. This was one quote from so many received by the team
Andrew Brattesani, UK head of HSBC Franchising
“Tony has embodied our brand’s ‘three-legged stool’ approach which has been crucial to our success as a brand over the last decade. The relationship between Tony and the team here is so strong, it often felt at times like Tony was part of the McDonald’s team.
In the last 12 months, we’ve been through an exceptionally turbulent time – Tony has been ‘on call’ constantly, and thanks to his efforts, all of our franchisees have been able to focus on our recovery and growth. Tony’s approach is ‘nothing is too much trouble’ and has always looked for solutions – no matter how difficult they may have been to execute
We love Tony’s humour – and along with the strength of the relationship he worked so hard to build up, this made even the toughest of conversations ‘easy’, given he’s so open and transparent.“
Cliff Thomas, Finance Director, McDonald’s
“Tony mentioned one thing earlier this year that I think sums him up in our eyes. I don’t even know if he remembers saying it. He was talking about all the liquidity support that HSBC were giving to all of their customers. He mentioned that meant that his team had provided support to keep over 250,000 workers in the UK with a job. No matter how hard and late you worked, it was worth it. And you would continue doing that to do everything you could to keep them with a job. Not just HSBC…not just their customers…but people who work for businesses that HSBC support. Love it.”
MASSIVE THANK YOU FROM EVERYONE AT TEAM KFC
Chris Drew, CFO, KFC
“Tony – the way you conduct yourself and your articulation is outstanding. I feel I am truly blessed to work with you/within the vicinity of you – you are one of my role models and a person, I wish to never forget throughout my career.”
Jeetinder Singh, Team Leader, Franchise Direct, HSBC UK
After such a wonderful career in franchising Tony has now retired but from all of us at the British Franchise Association and on behalf of this vibrant industry, we thank you and we wish you the very best for your next chapter!