SYF News August 2011

Fiona Boswell Senior Associate Solicitor Freeth Cartwright LLP

Reclaiming Goods from Insolvent Franchises June 29th, 2011 by Fiona Boswell in Franchise Legal Franchisors’ sales contracts should contain provisions that help to reclaim products if a franchise becomes insolvent. Retention of Title In sales contracts this clause states that the franchisee’s right to own  the products is in some way conditional. Normally, the franchisee legally owns the products either, when it pays  for them , or when  payment of all outstanding sums due to the franchisor, not just the monies owed for those particular products, is made. This type of clause gives a franchisor the ability to reclaim unpaid for products from insolvent franchisees. What To Do if your Franchisee is going into insolvency A recent case concerning an insolvency in the fashion industry has highlighted that some businesses may not have the protection which they expect from their retention of title clauses¹ . This case specified certain steps that should be taken to rely on these clauses when customers become insolvent. Act promptly Click here to read more...

Iain Martin Director, The International Franchising Centre

Trends in multi-unit franchising June 30th, 2011 by Ian Martin in Franchise Sales and Development in the UK, International Franchise Development It seems to be a truism in franchising, that what the US industry is doing today, we’ll be doing in a year or so’s time. One trend which is accelerating there, is multi-unit single brand franchise owners, taking on additional brands. In this blog, I’m going to touch on a number of reasons for why its happening, and why franchisees in a similar situation in the UK, should consider going down the same route. Whilst I am focussing primarily on QSR operators, the principles are applicable across a range of sectors. The first major benefit is diversification – I remember a year or so back when we had a health scare relating to beef (mad cow disease), burger sales dropped dramatically – if the owners of those restaurants had had, say a chicken concept to sit alongside their burger operation, the effects on their bottom lines would have been reduced considerably. Its often possible to ‘leverage’ an existing management/support team – so that not only can a new brand be supported effectively from day one, but also the values and Click here to read more...