KITCHEN FACELIFT FRANCHISE AMONGST SIX BRANDS SHORTLISTED;  WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN JULY

It's the biggest event in franchising's calendar. The annual awards that celebrate the very best franchised businesses in the UK. And this year former Brand Builder of the Year, Dream Doors, has been shortlisted for the top prize – the British Franchise Association's (bfa) Franchisor of the Year. Six finalists meet the judging panel next month while the trophy itself, awarded to the franchisor that demonstrates the most outstanding all-round performance, is presented at the bfa's Annual Conference in July.

Brian Smart, director general of the bfa, said: “We’ve been delighted to see such an array of franchises stepping forward to compete to be crowned bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year. It’s refreshing to hear such positive success stories at a challenging economic time and we have been extremely impressed with the high levels of drive and passion franchisors hold for these businesses.”

Fellow retailers might be struggling in such challenging economic times but Dream Doors grew by almost 40 percent last year, an impressive performance set against a kitchen furniture market that has been on a downward trend since 2008. Of course, franchisors benefit from fresh investment each year; new franchisees join and generate sales of their own to aid organic growth. But strip those figures out, and Dream Doors' like-for-like sales were still up by 22 percent.

Dream Doors managing director, Troy Tappenden says: “Franchisees have always asked for more leads and more sales. We're a sales-driven business, and that's how we all measure success.”

In the last year, Tappenden invested in new online marketing strategies that now account for up to 50 percent of franchisees' sales. 3,000 extra training hours were made available to franchisees and their staff, and the brand introduced bespoke software and cloud-based accountancy platforms to help them maintain margins and increase profits.

Tappenden adds: “Dream Doors has won a number of awards in the last decade, including the bfa's Brand Builder of the Year and six Franchise Marketing Awards. We've even won a National Training Award that was backed by the DTI and the UK Skills Council. But this is the award we've coveted the most.

“To be judged one of the top six franchisors in the UK is incredible. We know how much effort goes into making all of our franchisees successful, but it isn't always so obvious to observers from outside the company. To be assessed by the bfa and their esteemed judges, and to have made the finals, demonstrates the strength of this brand.”