BFANEWS
committee who help the bfa make this event such a great success every year. I know we will rise to the challenge again in 2016, so please, if you are reading this and wish you had attended, I urge you to put next year’s dates (the last week in April) in your diaries now and think about who you would like to invite to join you. Scotland is very much open for franchising – come and see for yourself.
Pip Wilkins I am proud to say that Scottish Franchise Week is now an established fixture in the bfa’s calendar. We started 12 years ago with a couple of days to promote the industry and it has now evolved into a full week of events and activity. We are no longer just about the promotion, although that remains a very important objective of the week; we have developed what we do to include platforms to educate franchisors, professionals, prospective franchisees, prospective franchisors and the wider business community.
Pip (right) with Freddie St George
to assist individuals that are looking to come into franchising understand its true realities. Over the last few years we have put in place a mix of social opportunities during the week, with an annual golf day and social evening. Our chairman, Simon Bartholomew, summed up the golf this year by saying: “It is always a popular way to experience all of the elements of Scotland’s weather. We had light rain, heavy rain, hail stones and a little sun but we also had some great conversations about business and franchising.”
“Scotland is very much open for franchising – come and see for yourself”
Our educational seminars are structured to help businesses consider whether franchising is the right route for expanding their business and
Our evening social event went upmarket by moving to award-winning luxury jewelers, Rox, and I have to say that I found discussing franchising in an informal atmosphere was again a winning formula; there was a great buzz of people talking about everything from golf to the upcoming Scottish Business Breakfast. Which leads me onto just that. It is our biggest event of the week and I’ve seen the event grow, change and adapt year on year – 2015 was no different. We wanted to try something new with an interview format for our franchisee and franchisor case study presentations. We had a fantastic line up of speakers with Freddie St George of Raring2Go, Paul Lagar of Swimtime, and TV presenter Carol Smillie.
What did I think overall? It was one of the most engaging breakfast events we have held to date and one that even left me smiling (which is never easy). Scanning the room is something I always do when the speakers take to the stage, and I’m pleased to say that everyone seemed interested in what was happening and generally focused on what the speakers were saying! Some great messages came from the franchising speakers about the benefits of using a franchising model and Carol Smillie provided a story of true entrepreneurial spirit with her new business Diary Doll, a women’s lifestyle and hygiene brand. Not everyone could discuss this with a predominantly male audience and get such a high level of support and feedback from the audience afterwards. I thought Carol was one of the best speakers we have had and I left the event, along with 200 others, completely inspired that no matter how many times the door is shut in your face, you should never give up because you can always try opening another. It is a rare occurrence for me to be so impressed by a speaker that I want to use them again but I have already secured Carol’s attendance at our Women in Franchising event on 17 November and I’m excited to hear how her business has progressed in six months. Scottish Franchise Week would not be the ongoing success it is without the tremendous support we get from the established members of our Scottish Forum, and without the ongoing sponsorship from HSBC, Business Franchise and Scottish-based consultancy firm Platinum Wave – so my biggest thanks goes to them. n
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