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Franchising solicitors

Our expert franchising solicitors provide a complete legal service for franchisors, franchisees and multi-franchise owners.

Franchise businesses are a significant part of our economy. It is estimated that franchise businesses generate over £17 billion in revenue a year and there are almost 50,000 franchise units in the UK.

How our franchising solicitors can help you

BFA affiliateWe have acted for franchise businesses for over 20 years and understand the issues faced by franchisors, franchisees and multi-franchise owners. Our franchising solicitors use their specialist experience to help our franchise clients, both franchisors and franchisees.

Our franchise expertise has been officially recognised by the British Franchise Association (BFA), which has accepted Weightmans as an Affiliate Member. We are proud to be associated with the BFA, which is internationally renowned in the franchise world.

Our franchise lawyers have specialist knowledge of a wide range of sectors in which franchises operate, which includes professional services, health & safety, facilities management, accountancy, retail, fast food, manufacturing, insurance, financial services and property.

Our clients range from start-ups to nationally and internationally developed franchise networks. We have offices throughout the UK and links to law firms throughout the world as part of our membership of Legalink, a network of top-tier independent law firms which practice in the world's finance and commercial centres.

As a full-service national law firm, we have a breadth of experience that can support franchisors and franchisees. For example, our competition team is consistently ranked in the top tier for competition law by the independent Legal 500 directory. Our specialists are on hand to assist with any matters that arise with your franchise.

Our legal support for franchise owners

We can support franchise owners with a range of advice, including:

  • Start-ups, franchise agreements, funding, terms of business, shareholders' agreements;
  • Sales and acquisitions of franchise businesses and shares, networks and franchisees;
  • Supply chain issues throughout the franchise network;
  • Competition law;
  • Regulatory compliance (health and safety, environmental, data protection etc);
  • Tax-efficient group structures and personal ownership models;
  • Management buyouts;
  • Pension arrangements;
  • Property issues;
  • Disputes and litigation (commercial disputes, cyber, debt recovery, defamation and reputation management); and
  • Employment law.

Contact our franchising solicitors

For more information or to have an informal discussion about your franchise business please contact Marc Allison.

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