“We’ve found new ways to support all of the franchising industry”

James Sedgwick explains the bfa’s business support function and its broad and inclusive approach to supporting bfa members

The British Franchise Association (bfa) prides itself on working collaboratively with its members to deliver the services, training and support required to drive their franchise businesses forward.

A key part of the bfa’s foundations is its franchise support function, led by James Sedgwick. James acts as a key bfa liaison, visiting members and making sure he is available to support them when needed.

“I love the variety of the role,” says James. “All our members are on their own unique journey, but I can help them by making sure they’re tapping into our support network. I also enjoy representing the bfa and working with franchisors who are not yet aligned to the bfa network, developing their understanding of the elements and requirements of the bfa accreditation process.”

Rising to challenges

James is proud of how the bfa has evolved and embraced new initiatives to ensure that members still received the support they needed during the challenges of the last two years. He continues, “We have developed our use of digital and virtual meeting tools, but there is now a renewed appetite for face-to-face meetings. We’ve found new ways to support all the franchising industry, and our ‘power hour’ sessions have proved to be a great inclusive information-sharing franchising platform.”

The bfa recognises how important it is to grow and develop its franchise support function and Will Strike has recently joined the team as franchise support manager. Will has already worked for the bfa in a compliance role and has a detailed knowledge of both the bfa and the wider franchising sector.

Expanding support

James notes: “Will is a highly dedicated franchising professional who has already proven himself at the bfa. He has a highly developed understanding of the standards around the bfa membership model, he already knows the bfa members and he’s really excited to be supporting them in a new way. With this expansion to our team, we’ll now be able to support our members even more.”