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Franchise Q&A


does protect franchisees from unreasonable exclusions of liability. In addition, the courts, historically, do not like enforcing very onerous contracts which are entered into by ‘weak’ parties and which the ‘strong’ party indicates are non-negotiable. The courts try to come to the assistance of franchisees, using various concepts including ‘derogation from grant’ and ‘implied terms.’ Whilst English law does not have a concept of ‘good faith’, English courts do reach decisions using other methods which are similar to those that are reached by the courts of jurisdictions which do have a concept of good faith.


[Q] Although there are national campaigns for my brand/service – is it a good idea to raise awareness via social media for my own operation and what are the implications?


[BIO] LOUISE


BRUCE is managing director of Big Red Box PR


of voice for your posts. Secondly, naming pages – if you are going to register a new business page on any of the social media sites, ie Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc make sure it is your entire franchise name, otherwise you may confuse clients into thinking you are the franchisor – also not good for franchisor/franchisee relations.


Next, branding – check with your franchisor which logos should be used with social media and if necessary get new ones designed that fi t the sites properly. Make sure your social media pages are fully branded and look smart and professional. Remember, to the consumer you are the brand – whether you are a franchise or not. Finally, ongoing use – nothing looks worse than a social media page that isn’t updated. People may start to think you’ve closed down or gone bust – not the message you want to convey. Update pages daily and if you don’t have the time to keep them fresh and interesting, take them down.


[Q] What kind of things should a franchisee approach their solicitor for? Are there any franchise specifi c solicitors?


[BIO] ERICA


[A] Generally, anything you can do to raise the profi le of your franchise business


is a good thing. However, you must bear in mind that your franchisor will have a PR/social media strategy for the entire franchise and it is important that you are all ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’. So talk to your franchisor before engaging in social media and if they are happy for you to continue then here are a few things to consider before you start on your journey to social media stardom. Firstly, the message. Ask your franchisor what their social media policy is and if they haven’t got one, suggest they write one as soon as possible. This will tell you what you can and can’t say, how you should deal with negative comments and give you advice on the tone


24 | Businessfranchise.com | May 2012


WESTERMAN is head of commercial and IP, and partner at Berry Smith, Cardiff


wanting to know what the operations manual contains before they agree to be legally bound by it. Often a confi dentiality agreement is signed prior to the parties entering the business discussions. The franchisee should have both the franchisee agreement and any confi dentiality agreement reviewed by their solicitor so that any onerous or unusual terms or liability can be explained and, if necessary, negotiated and amended prior to the franchisee signing up and being legally bound by them. A solicitor that is affi liated by the British Franchise Association, the benchmark of franchising in the UK, usually has a solid grounding of this niche area of law and so should be in a good position to advise potential franchisees. 


[A] Franchising is a self-regulated industry, but the agreement between


the franchisor and the franchisee is still absolutely critical. The franchise agreement usually contains all the legal terms agreed between the parties, but franchisees should note that it will often refer to other documents that form a part of the agreement and, therefore, are also legally binding. For example, the operations manual. A balance needs to be struck between the franchisor wanting to protect all of their business’s critical information and the franchisee


Contact details


Email your questions to: editor@businessfranchise.com


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