Business Doctors has made its first move into mainland Europe with the appointment of a master franchisor for Belgium and Luxembourg.

Former finance director Aslam Bakkali has taken over the rights for the European neighbours and also has first refusal on France.

With support from the UK head office, the French-speaking Belgian now plans to divide his patch into six to eight territories. The first, Brussels, he will operate himself.

Aslam is well placed to support the Belgian capital region's growing number of SMEs and start ups, with 30 years finance, sales, marketing and strategic business experience behind him.

Throughout three decades in industry, Aslam has worked up to FD level for the subsidiaries of many multinationals, including Colgate-Palmolive, Orangina Schweppes, Sun Micro Systems and Nielsen Company.

Rod Davies, co-founder Business Doctors, said: "When we met Aslam, we knew right away that we had found our perfect master franchisor for the Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union.

"His business background has equipped him with a special blend of bluechip expertise alongside an appreciation of the reality of working in an SME.

"We know he has an enormous amount to offer Brussels' start up and SME community and are confident that he will help us to grow our network of small and medium sized business consultants throughout Europe."

Aslam said: "When I discovered the Business Doctors franchise, I found a perfect fit for my skills and experience and was delighted that they felt the same way too.

"I am very much looking forward to launching their first office in mainland Europe and bringing their unique brand of jargon-free, hands on SME support to Brussels and beyond.

"Once the Brussels franchise is up and running, I will be recruiting franchisees to operate across the rest of Belgium and Luxembourg".

Since humble beginnings above a Cheshire takeaway in 2004, franchisors Rod Davies and Matt Levington were set on building a global brand: the go to company for SME consultancy services.

With over 30 Business Doctors territories now operating around the UK, the ambitious pair took their first steps beyond British soil when they launched in South Africa in May 2014. Today, Business Doctors' territories are up and running in eight regions of the country, including Johannesburg, its largest and wealthiest city.

In 2016, Business Doctors launched in India, Malta and Republic of Ireland.