Role, Regulations, and Member Obligations of the British Franchise Association (BFA)

Produced in partnership with Tim Rickard of Fieldfisher and David Bond of Fieldfisher

Practice notes

Role, Regulations, and Member Obligations of the British Franchise Association (BFA)

Produced in partnership with Tim Rickard of Fieldfisher and David Bond of Fieldfisher

Practice notes

This Practice Note examines the role and remit of the British Franchise Association (the BFA) in the franchise industry in the UK. It looks at the legislative and regulatory framework in the franchise industry, the membership criteria of the BFA, the BFA’s Code of Ethical Conduct, the complaints and appeals process of the BFA, the sanctions which the BFA can impose upon its members, and the relationship between the BFA and the European Franchise Federation.

Role and remit

The BFA was set up in 1977 to assess and accredit franchising companies in the UK. The objectives of the BFA, as stated in its Articles of Association, are to:

•
promote the interests of franchisors
•
ensure compliance with its Code of Ethical Conduct
•
advise on all franchising queries
•
promote trust and confidence in BFA-accredited franchises
•
provide education and training in relation to franchises, and
•
increase efficiency and economy in the franchising practice

The BFA has various powers which it can exercise in order to further those objectives.

Tim Rickard

Fieldfisher

Tim is a commercial lawyer in Fieldfisher's Brand Development group, specialising in helping businesses promote and commercially exploit their brands and intellectual property.

Tim supports a range of businesses as they expand both domestically and internationally into new markets using multi-channel routes such as franchising, e-commerce, agency, and distribution. Many of these are household names, but he also works with up and coming brands looking to break into their sector. His team is ranked by Chambers Global as one of the top two franchising practices in the world – no other practice based in Europe features in the four ranking bands.

A large proportion of Tim’s work also involves advising clients on advertising and marketing matters, working with them to develop goodwill in their brand. This includes providing domestic and multi-jurisdictional advice on copy clearance, claim substantiation, ASA complaints and appeals, and prize promotions.

Tim works with a broad range of clients in a variety of sectors including fashion and retail, food and beverage, and sport.

David Bond

Partner, Fieldfisher

David Bond is a partner in the Commercial IP group at law firm, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, specialising in Brand Management, advising clients on ways to promote and commercially exploit their brands and other intellectual property.

As head of the firm’s Advertising and Marketing Group David assists clients to develop awareness of their brand, specifically advising on all forms of marketing communication and promotional activity, both in the traditional media of print, TV and radio and increasingly online, within a client’s own website and third party social media sites and mobile.

David’s clearance work involves advising both advertisers and their agencies on advertising copy, dealing with the industry regulators and lodging and defending ASA complaints. On the contract side, David drafts and negotiates a wide variety of commercial agreements on behalf of advertisers and agencies, such as client/agency contracts, endorsement/merchandise contracts, venue hires and sponsorship agreements. David has also structured and drafted the relevant terms for numerous loyalty reward programmes.

David also advises on the legality of all forms of sales promotion and drafts terms and conditions for both free prize draws (sweepstakes) and skill based competitions and related handling house and redemption contracts.

David has advised both the Advertising Association (AA) and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), operating the latter’s advertising legal hotline for its members.

David is also a specialist franchise lawyer and member of the firm’s leading franchise practice, advising a broad range of clients to use franchising as a means of corporate expansion both in the UK and overseas, with a particular focus on the retail, food and beverage and services sectors. David is the co-author of the Franchise, Agency and Distribution volume of Butterworths “Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents”.

David is the only UK lawyer to be ranked by the legal directory Chambers 2012 as a leading expert in both franchising and advertising and marketing.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Franchise definition

What does Franchise mean?

A royal privilege or branch of the royal prerogative subsisting in the hands of a subject, by grant from the Crown.

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