West Mids rakes in £1.1bn in franchising
Franchising is worth more than £1bn to the West Midlands economy. That's according to research from NatWest and the British Franchise Association.
The study found that in 2010, franchising increased turnover across the UK by £600m to £12.4bn. In the West Midlands, franchising accounts for a turnover of about £1.1bn.
The number of franchise systems operating in the UK has grown to 897 over the past year, increasing the number of franchise business units to 36,900, the research concluded.
Peter Ibbetson, chairman of small business at NatWest, said: "With 87 per cent of franchisors planning to expand in the year ahead, we’re already seeing strong demand for our recently launched £100m franchise fund. We bank more franchise businesses than anyone else so our discounted loans will play an important role in financing further industry growth."
