FRANCHISE IRELANDSpring 2006(The online newsletter of the Irish Franchise Association, 30 Tolka Valley Business Park, Ballyboggan Road, Dublin 11. Tel - 01 4991091. Email - michaelbradley@irishfranchiseassociation.com MESSAGE FROM JOHN GREEN, CHAIRMAN, IRISH FRANCHISE ASSOCIATIONWelcome to our first newsletter of 2006. The Irish Franchise Association, through its activities outlined below, continues to enhance the profile of franchising as a means of starting or expanding a business. We look forward to another successful year for the franchise sector in Ireland. Regional seminars – we brought the franchising message to over 250 people at the following venues:
Limerick in conjunction with Limerick City Enterprise Board; Mullingar with Westmeath County Enterprise Board; Clonakilty with the cooperation of West Cork County Enterprise Board; and to the third–level entrepreneurial students of the Dublin Institutes of Technology. Irish Franchise Awards 2006 – details and entry forms will be available in June and the awards will be presented at an Awards Dinner on Friday 17 November at the Davenport Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin. Irish Franchise Exhibition 2006 – will be held at the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 on 17th and 18th November, and information seminars will be held during both days. See our website or www.franinfo.ie. Franchise Survey – the 2006 survey on franchising in Ireland is expected to be ready for launch next Autumn. Strategic plan for the IFA - a sub-committee report is expected soon. It will outline key strategic objectives in order to improve IFA’s structure, standards and effectiveness. New Members – continue to join and we have almost doubled our membership over the past two years. Raising the Profile – we have submitted a paper on franchising to the Government’s Small Business Forum and requested meetings with the relevant Minister and semi-states to advance the case for franchising as a means of expanding an existing business or starting a new business as franchisees. To IFA members - thank you for your continued support. To other franchisors – why not have a look at the benefits of IFA membership in 2006? And to all our readers - thank you for your interest. JOHN GREEN, Chairman NEW MEMBERSWe welcome the following to IFA membership: whichfranchise.ie News from Commercial Department, US Embassy, DublinU.S. Embassy leads Irish delegation to the International Franchise Expo, June 2006. The International Franchise Exhibition is a 3-day event which features over 280 franchise exhibitors and a variety of seminars led by world-renowned experts on franchising. The show will take place in Washington DC, June 2 to 4, 2006. If you register through the U.S. Commercial Service, you can avail of free admission and a 50% discount off the pre-registration rate of the symposia. For more information contact Finola Cunningham, tel: +353-1-667-4753 or email: Finola.Cunningham@mail.doc.gov. For a list of American franchisors currently interested in entering the Irish market visit the U.S. Commercial Service website at http://www.buyusa.gov/ireland/en/80.html NEWS and VIEWS
Ology Ireland - Ology, the successful business coaching franchise, is pleased to announce the acceleration of its expansion in Ireland with the appointment of Arik Elberse as its master licensee for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Arik joins Ology following an already successful career and senior positions with Nortel, Enterprise Ireland and in the SME sector. Ology also announced the appointment of Cyril Dunworth as Business Advisor in the Longford region. Quiznos - has opened its eighth store in Wexford Street, Dublin. With more than 3,000 restaurants open worldwide Quiznos is one of the fastest growing sandwich chains and Kylemore Foods Group are proud to introduce this exciting brand to the Irish Market. Its new offers a full range of sub sandwiches, which are toasted on proprietary artisan breads and made with the finest quality ingredients and topped with salads and signature sauce dressings. Quiznos offers a unique eating experience for those looking for a quality healthy alternative to fast food and traditional sandwich bars. Michael Finnegan & Associates (MFA) - offers a personalised hands-on approach to the development of client-focused Franchise Operations Manuals and advice and guidance in the development of a Franchise Development Programme with emphasis on systems development and training programme implementation. Contact : Micheal Finnegan at 01 4588366 or info@mfa.ie StartupJournal.com - offers exclusive US Franchise High Performers Database. With more than 2,500 franchise systems in the U.S., selecting the right opportunity is a daunting prospect for potential franchisees. So Startup Journal teamed up with FRANdata, a company that tracks and researches the industry, to develop an exclusive database of franchise high performers. See www.startupjournal.com Chem-Dry - with the opening of their forty-second franchise John & Pat Green, Master Licence Holders for the Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning franchise in Ireland since 1989, have put in place, more franchisees per head of population than any other Chem-Dry Master Franchisee in any of the 50 other countries in the world where Chem-Dry operates. Their fully trained franchisees offer a professional carpet & upholstery cleaning service to Commercial & Residential clients across the country. Visit our website: www.chemdry.ie Email: john@chemdry.ie or phone: 1850 500 200. Franchise International (FI) - is the world's only publication totally dedicated to international master franchising. In circulation since 1993 and now published quarterly, Franchise International is available online or in print, providing a valuable guide to investigating the franchise market, helping you to keep up to date with the latest master franchising news and linking to the most valuable franchise resources. See www.fdsltd.com The Wine Buff - opened its latest shops in Waterford and Newbridge recently.
Mike McDonnell, Managing Director of The Wine Buff said, “Now we are up and running in Leinster, we are well on target to open another five shops in the coming months”. O’Briens Sandwich Bars - have launched their O’Briens branded Fair Trade Tea in over 250 stores throughout the UK and Ireland in association with Fair Trade Ireland and Clipper-Teas. O’Briens choose Clipper-Teas because they too are a company which has grown from small beginnings, never compromising on quality and have a vision similar to O’Briens of providing quality foods from an ethical environment. International Franchise Association – now produce an ezine summarising franchise news stories from around the world and deliver them in one easy-to-read package, direct to your e-mail inbox –Free. It is essential reading for anyone in franchising. Contact ifa@smartbrief.com Signs Express - the UK & Ireland’s largest sign company, won the 'most innovative marketing campaign' award at the first Franchise Marketing Awards held recently in London. It was presented in recognition of an ‘e-shot’ facility offered to franchisees via the company extranet – FranchiseeNet which allows a range of branded email messages to be sent to customers via the system handling up to 300 email addresses at one time. Signs Express were named as finalists in 5 categories including best overall marketing campaign, most innovative marketing campaign, best website, best recruitment literature and best advertisement. The awards recognized franchise companies that have raised their public awareness and as a result achieved sustainable growth. See www.signsexpress.co.uk
Cartridge World Ireland – headed by Master Franchisee Gerry Smyth from his base in Galway they now have 38 stores operating across the Irish Republic with further store openings planned for 2006 and beyond. Recognised as the fastest growing new retail chain in the Republic, Cartridge World Ireland is an Irish Franchise success story. It's Franchised stores bring international expertise to the Irish high street, providing a guaranteed, quality, cartridge refill & remanufacture service to domestic & business users, giving average savings of up to 60% of the cost of new branded cartridges and offering a comprehensive range of print related products. West Coast Coffee - is pleased to announce the opening of their first franchised shop. This will be the eighth West Coast Coffee outlet in the Dublin area. The franchised store is in Temple Bar. According to Virginia Greene, owner of West Coast Coffee, ‘The shop has a great location and looks fabulous. Temple Bar is a vibrant, cosmopolitan part of Dublin and we believe our store will do very well there’. ACTION International – following their win at last year’s Irish Franchise Awards, Ireland’s largest business coaching organisation has been awarded the prestigious European Territory of the Year Award at the Action International European Annual Conference in Brighton, UK. The Award is presented to the territory that has demonstrated outstanding growth in addition to the earnings per franchisee. Winning the EU Award is a major achievement for the Irish Team and according to former banker Paul Fagan, his Action Team has triumphed over the well established regions throughout the UK, France and Portugal. Computer TroubleshootersEnda Folan, National Master Franchisor for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will be undertaking an additional new role as European Operations Director charged with the growth of the franchise further into continental Europe. At this time Computer Troubleshooters is already represented in Ireland, UK, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Romania. The initial target countries for 2006 will be Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Folan established the Ireland operation in October 2003. He has previous business experience with Digital Equipment, Knowledge Trade, Stratus Computer, Benchmark Electronics, Dell and MSL. Thank you for reading FRANCHISE IRELAND. |
