Visitor and Exhibitor success at the UKs leading franchise event

The National Franchise Exhibition 2005, the largest franchise exhibition ever staged in the UK, was also the most exciting and a tremendous success for visitors and exhibitors alike.



The event, which incorporated the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference, was the culmination of a highly successful National Franchise Week.

The hall at the NEC, Birmingham was packed and the aisles continually busy with over 14,000 visitors attending the event over the two days. They met more than 250 established and new franchises from a wide range of industry sectors, as well as small business services suppliers.

The many different seminars were extremely informative with thought-provoking speakers including Nighat Awan, OBE, Chief Executive of The Shere Khan Group, Rocky Mirza, Founder of iBETX, and Perween Warsi, CBE, Founder & CEO of S&A Foods and many other leaders in their fields. These three highly successful entrepreneurs highlighted the challenges they have faced on their way to the top and how they had overcome them.

This yearís event also included several fascinating, crowd-pulling new initiatives such as the Women in Franchising Zone, where female entrepreneurs could speak with other likeminded people and listen to experts for invaluable advice. The National Franchise Exhibition is the perfect platform to market a franchise. It gives visitors a golden opportunity to meet face-to-face with potential franchisees. This yearís Women in Franchising initiative was a great step forward and we were very happy to be its main sponsor, said Rosemary Conley, CBE, Managing Director of the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs.

The exhibition generated thousands of high quality leads for exhibitors at the show.

Feedback from companies showed that they were impressed with the standard of the visitors that attended the exhibition. We achieved more than 100 qualified leads at The National Franchise Exhibition and our hourly presentations were really well attended - people spilled in to the aisles! The National Franchise Exhibition was an ideal platform from which to announce the development of our money back guarantee, and as a result visitors were particularly interested in our success at the show, said John Davidson, Managing Director of aqua-lec.

Visitors were delighted by the impressive choice of opportunities and information available. Typical of their views were:

I came today looking for a general overview of business ideas. I am looking to start my own business or franchise. There is a lot to choose from here. Andrew Boyton, a gardener from Spalding.

I like the size of the event and everything is here in one place. There are lots of companies here that you would not expect and some impressive big names too, said Ian Taylor, from Hull.

Given the feedback from exhibitors and visitors, the event was hailed as a great success. David Tuck, Franchise Sales Manager at Venture Marketing Group, said, We are delighted with the response to both The National Franchise Exhibition and the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference 2005. Both events were a tremendous success with exhibitors and visitors praising the quantity and quality of opportunities available.

Further exhibitor feedback
Phil Abbott, Managing Director of BBís Coffee & Muffins commented, BBís Coffee & Muffins is delighted to have participated in The National Franchise Exhibition. The show has provided us with the platform to attract customer-focused franchisees who have the ambition and commercial awareness to run a successful business. We are absolutely delighted with the level of interest shown in our brand during the two-day event with well over 200 individuals or business partners registering their interest in taking a BBís Coffee & Muffins franchise. Our concept was already tried and tested internationally. With our current strong reputation in the UK, coupled with a high volume of new potential franchisees generated from the exhibition, we are well on our way to achieve our vision of 250 stores by 2010.

Pip Wilkins, Events Manager for the British Franchise Association, said, This yearís National Franchise Exhibition has been the biggest and best we have attended. The exhibition continues to grow year on year and the quality of the visitors this year has been exceptional.

Lance Baker, Technical Director for LocalGroup, incorporating PlumbLocal and ElecLocal, said, The exhibition has been excellent with a tremendous number of visitors. We have had an amazing response to our products. Both the ElecLocal and PlumbLocal franchise opportunities continue to go from strength to strength.

The view of Paul Green, General Manager of Clairol Professional UK, was, As a first time exhibitor Clairol Professional showcased its dynamic new salon exclusive hair care range, utilising the show to attract franchisees from all over the country. We were very pleased with both the quantity and quality of the candidates that we met. It certainly helped having a vivid, impactful stand and a globally recognised brand to promote our franchise offering. Clairol expects to take on in the region of 15-20 franchisees as a direct result of the show.

Further visitor response
I have come to the event to add an extra element to my health clinic, for example a catering or vending machine franchise. I am very impressed with the exhibition, it is well set up and is easy to navigate. Jenifer Bryan, Managing Director of a health clinic in Bognor Regis.

We are at the show looking for franchising opportunities for our daughter, who has just come out of the Army. This is a great show. Kirsty and Mike Urkan, self-employed from Kettering.

There is a lot of diversity at the show. I am hoping to gain contacts with various franchisors to gain finance and professional advice. Joe Jawanda, a business finance broker from Hayes.

As a first time visitor I am looking at franchising my own business as well as for ideas for future franchising opportunities. The variety and quality of information at the event is fantastic. Louise Price, an estate agent from Ludlow.