Setting up a franchise in Birmingham

Franchising is a flourishing industry boasting nearly 1,000 brands in a host of different sectors. The industry consistently shows 90% of franchisees reporting profitability. The advantages of owning your own business are obvious but so too are the risks. The franchisee is taking less of a risk than starting his or her own business and less than 4% of franchises fail for commercial reasons. This is because they are operating under an established and proven business model and supplying or producing a tested brand name.

Rapid development in beautiful new buildings, improving infrastructure and retail outlets has created a bustling city full of diverse culture. There’s the multicultural Bullring shopping centre, the artsy scene in Digbeth, the corporate businesses on Colmore Row and the fashionable King’s Heath. With over 38 million visitors in 2015 spending over £6 billion, Birmingham is not just popular destination for local shoppers but worldwide. It’s no surprise that in 2015, Birmingham was ranked as the top UK city outside London for new business start-ups.

Why choose Birmingham to run your franchise operation?

Birmingham really has it all, a bustling city, great transport links to major destinations across the country, and home to one of the largest business venues in the country – the National Exhibition Centre, and its own international airport.

Birmingham recorded one of the highest numbers of new start-ups in 2016 and the most active business population. Therefore the government backed Start Up Loans Company has stated that Birmingham is the “most entrepreneurial city” outside of London.

To add to this, potential franchisees have the new HS2, High Speed Rail 2, to look forward to that will reduce the journey from an already impressive 90 minutes to 43 minutes, making the capital and easy and accessible destination.

Are there suitable areas to run my franchise opportunity?

Birmingham is a perfect city as a franchise territory, as it hosts a number of business parks and shopping districts capable of hosting a vast array of franchise operations from. 

These include within Birmingham;

• Bullring - Opened in 2003, the Bullring is home to over 500 shops ranging from high street favourites to independent shops and a weekly footfall of around 750,000
• Grand Central - Opened in 2015, the newly renovated New Street rail station has more than 100 shops and a staggering, 1,000,000 footfall per week on average
• Birmingham Business Park, Solihull Parkway Birmingham and Saltey Business Park

Birmingham currently has a population just over 1.1 million and hosts four universities, so you can rest easy knowing you have plenty of customers, no matter what business you set up, right on your doorstep.

Will I receive any support through franchising in Birmingham?

Apart from the franchise support and training you will naturally receive from your franchisor, there is an added benefit of choosing Birmingham as your franchise territory.

One of the main sources of funding for small businesses comes directly from the City Council of Birmingham via grants. It’s Creative Fund is one of the most successful schemes across the city, with funding from £50,000 to £500,000 available for entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of business but can show that their business will create job opportunities in Birmingham.