Franchise support & advice — United Kingdom
Franchise it properly. Or fix the one you have.
Franchising is not a way to raise quick money. It is a way to grow a business that already works, with owner-operators who have paid to be there. We help UK owners franchise for the first time — and we work inside existing networks as a contracted director, a recruiter or a troubleshooter when something has stopped working.
Free forms and systems for any owner. A members' WhatsApp group. Hands-on help by the day, by the project or on commission.
Brands and businesses worked with
- Co-op
- CeX
- Cash Converters
- Essar
- Chester Zoo
- Bunsik
- TGP
What we do
Four ways to work with us.
Free — no sign-up wall
Editable forms and systems
The documents a franchise actually runs on: operations manual structures, training plans, audits, handbooks, role descriptions, ordering processes. Written for real businesses, in Word, yours to edit.
Free — members
The members' WhatsApp group
Owners franchising their business, and franchisors already running networks, in one group. Ask the awkward questions. Get answers from people who have already had the problem.
Paid — scoped to you
Hands-on help, in the business
A contracted franchise director, franchisee recruitment on commission, dispute resolution, systems and process work, cost reduction. Five services, set out below.
Free — approved applicants only
We franchise your business for you
No fee, no invoice, no retainer. We set the franchise up, run it and recruit into it alongside you. We are paid only if it works — see below.
Services
For franchisors who already have a network — and owners who are building one.
Most franchise problems are not brand problems. They are recruitment, process, cost or conflict problems, and they are all fixable by somebody who has run a network rather than read about one.
Contracted franchise director
A franchise director on your board or running your franchise function, without a full-time salary attached. Days per month, agreed up front. Network strategy, franchisee performance, recruitment oversight and the difficult conversations owners tend to avoid.
Franchisee recruitment
We find, vet and onboard franchisees. Paid on results, not on activity — so there is no incentive to fill territories with the wrong people, which is how most networks damage themselves. Candidates are scored against the things that predict survival to year three.
Dispute resolution
Underperformance, brand-standard breaches, unpaid fees, franchisees who have stopped engaging. We work the pre-legal ladder in the right order — concern, warning, final warning, non-renewal — which is documented, defensible and usually ends the problem long before solicitors are involved.
Systems and process improvement
Writing down what actually happens, then making it repeatable. Operations manuals that match the business rather than contradict it, ordering and stock processes, training plans, audits and the reporting that tells you which sites are drifting before the accounts do.
Cost reduction and optimisation
Supplier terms and nominated-supplier arrangements, labour scheduling, shrinkage, range and space. Thirty years of buying and running retail sites, applied to your cost base. You pay nothing up front and nothing if we find nothing: we take half of the saving we make in its first year, and every year after that is entirely yours. Save £10,000 a year and our fee is £5,000, once.
Franchise your business — free
You keep your business. We build the franchise beside it.
For approved applicants we form a separate franchise company. You hold the majority. We take a minority stake in that new company only — and nothing else. Your existing business, its shares, its assets and its profits stay exactly where they are.
Your existing business
The same shareholders. The same balance sheet. We take no equity in it, no charge over it and no security against it. If the franchise never happens, nothing about your company has changed.
The new franchise company
- We bringThirty years of franchising knowledge, the systems, and the time to actually run it.
- We bringAccess to market — the franchisee pipeline, the brokers, the banks, the lawyers.
- We bringNo money. This is not investment and we are not buying in.
- You bringThe brand, the trading business, and a genuine willingness to be franchised.
- TogetherRecruitment, onboarding and management of the network, jointly.
Our stake is worth nothing unless the franchise succeeds. That is the point of it. You have nothing to lose and we have every reason to build it properly rather than sell places to the wrong people.
Approval
We turn most applicants down.
Not to be difficult. Because a franchise built on a business that is not ready damages the owner, the franchisees and everyone's money. We look at four things before we take anything on.
Finance
Enough funding behind the business to see a franchise launch through without it starving the core trade.
Adaptability
A business that can genuinely be run by somebody else, and an owner open to it changing shape.
Professionalism
Growth ambitions that are real rather than a number picked to impress. Accounts and systems in order.
Honesty
Straight answers about what works and what does not. We will find out either way, so it may as well be at the start.
If we do not approve you
You can still be franchised. You just pay for it.
Typical engagement
£1,500 a month, for six months
We set the franchise up and get it running: structure, documents, pricing, territories, recruitment material and launch. Six monthly payments, £9,000 in total, and no tie-in beyond the six months. Exact scope is agreed after we have met and understood the business — the figure above is what most owners end up paying, not a package we sell blind.
Free tools
Work out whether franchising is right before you spend anything.
Free franchise tools for UK business owners — readiness, costs, territories, candidates and agreements. Every tool below is free to use. No consultant will ring you afterwards.
Who we are
Thirty years of running the businesses, not advising from outside them.
Franchise Makers is Martin Hawthorne. Three decades in retail and convenience, most of it accountable for a profit line rather than a recommendation — as a managing director, as a director of franchise networks of more than two hundred stores, and as an award-winning franchisee who signed the agreement and paid the fees.
That last part matters. Sitting on both sides of a franchise agreement teaches you which clauses cause arguments in year two, and why most networks fail for reasons that had nothing to do with the brand.
- Managing Director, Cash Converters UK — a £78m turnover franchised network, with an £11m improvement in EBITDA.
- Franchise director — accountable for networks of more than 200 stores.
- Award-winning franchisee — not just advising franchisees, but having been one.
- CeX — part of its growth into an international brand, then a franchisee owning three stores.
- Parliamentary Select Committee — advised MPs on franchising and the treatment of franchisees.
- Co-op and Essar — franchising work, and a change to the convenience offer.
- Hospitality and food-to-go brands — franchise document sets, operations manuals and network structures.
Common questions
How to franchise your business in the UK.
How do I franchise my business in the UK?
You prove the model works in more than one site, write down how it runs, decide the territory and fee structure, get a franchise agreement drafted by a solicitor, then recruit franchisees. The order matters. Most owners try to recruit before the systems exist, and spend the next two years firefighting.
What does it cost to franchise a business?
Legal drafting, an operations manual, brand and recruitment material typically run to several thousand pounds before you sell a single territory. Our paid route is £1,500 a month for six months, £9,000 in total. Approved applicants pay nothing at all — we take a minority stake in the new franchise company instead.
Can I franchise my business for free?
With us, yes, if your business is approved. We form a separate franchise company, take between 22% and 49% of it, and set the franchise up and run it alongside you. Your existing business is untouched — no equity, no charge, no security. We are paid only if the franchise works.
How do I find good franchisees?
Not by advertising and hoping. Score candidates on funding, attitude, relevant experience and location before you get emotionally attached to filling the territory. The wrong franchisee costs far more than an empty patch on the map, because you cannot easily remove them once they have signed.
What do I do about an underperforming franchisee?
Work the pre-legal ladder in order and document every step: letter of concern, warning, final warning, then non-renewal or termination. Done properly it usually resolves long before solicitors are involved. Done badly — or skipped — it hands the franchisee a defence.
Do I need a franchise operations manual?
Yes. It is what a franchisee is actually buying, and it is normally referenced in the franchise agreement, which makes it enforceable. A manual that does not match how the business really runs is worse than none, because it sets a standard nobody follows.
Start here
One conversation, and you will know whether this is worth pursuing.
Tell us what the business does, roughly what it turns over, and why you are thinking about franchising. If it is not right for franchising we will say so — that is a useful answer and it costs you nothing.
help@wizardtec.co.uk