The Franchise Consultant is a team of UK franchise consultants based in York and working across England, Scotland and Wales. We do two jobs: we turn proven businesses into franchises, and we recruit franchisees for networks that are already trading. We are a bfa Advisor Member, we have a franchise lawyer in house, and we have been on both sides of the franchise agreement ourselves.
- 1,000+ franchisees placed
- 300+ franchisor clients
- 7 regional consultants, UK-wide coverage
- 100+ years of combined team experience in franchising
One company, two names
The Franchise Consultant is the trading name of UK Franchise Consultants Ltd, company number 14295331, registered in England and Wales with its office in York. Same team, same advisers, same work. If you arrived here having searched for the company name rather than the brand, you are in the right place.
We are a bfa Advisor Member, which is an assessed membership category of the British Franchise Association rather than a badge you can buy. Between us we have placed more than 1,000 franchisees for over 300 franchisor clients, and we keep a franchise lawyer in house rather than sending clients out to find one.
What UK franchise consultants actually do for you
The phrase covers two quite different pieces of work, and it helps to know which one you need before you speak to anyone.
Building the franchise. This is a one-off project. It starts with the question most firms skip, which is whether your business can be run profitably by someone who is not you. If it can, the work is designing the model, setting the fees and territories, building the financial forecasts for both sides, and producing the operations manual, agreement and recruitment material. Our franchise your business section sets out each stage.
Filling the network. This is ongoing. It means generating enquiries, qualifying candidates on money, motivation and fit, and taking the strongest through to a decision. It is where most franchise systems succeed or stall, because a well written manual is worth very little without the right people to run it. Our case studies show what this looks like across three very different networks.
Some firms only do the first. Some only do the second. We do both, which means the people designing your model are the same people who will later have to sell it to franchisees, and that keeps everyone honest about what will sell.
Consultant, broker, lawyer: which one do you actually need?
Four different jobs get described as franchise help, and business owners regularly hire the wrong one. The distinction is mostly about who pays, because that determines whose interests the adviser is holding.
- A franchise consultant is paid by you, the business owner. The job is to work out whether your business can be replicated at all, then design the model, the economics and the documentation that lets someone else run it. If the honest answer is that your business is not franchisable, a consultant who is paid by you can afford to say so.
- A franchise broker is paid by franchisors, usually a commission for each buyer introduced. Brokers serve people who want to buy into an existing brand. Useful for that, but a broker is not the person to tell you whether your own business should be franchised.
- A franchise lawyer drafts and negotiates the agreement, and advises on intellectual property and enforceability. Essential, and not the same as commercial design. A perfectly drafted agreement will not rescue a fee structure that does not work.
- A franchise manager is the operational role that runs a network once it exists, in house or outsourced. That comes after the model is built, not instead of building it.
We do the first of those, and we recruit franchisees for networks that are already trading. Our lawyer sits inside the business. We are not brokers, and we are not paid commission by franchisors to place buyers with them. If a document has already landed on your desk, the franchise agreement review is the usual starting point.
What UK franchise consultancy costs
Most consultancies do not publish prices, so here is the honest range. Franchise development work in the UK runs from around £6,000 at the budget end to £40,000 or more at the premium end. Most established, full-service programmes sit between £15,000 and £35,000. Recruitment support is usually priced separately, on a monthly retainer, a success fee per franchisee, or a mix of the two.
The lower end usually buys documents built on a template. The middle and upper end should buy thinking as well: the modelling that tells you whether the franchise will make money for both you and your franchisees. Our guide to what franchise consultancy costs in the UK breaks down what sits at each level and the questions to ask before you sign.
What franchising asks of you, not just what it costs
Cost is the question everyone asks first. The one that catches owners out is time, specifically their own. Franchising cannot be fully delegated, because most of what makes a business work is still sitting in the founder’s head and has to be extracted before it can be written down.
In practice, over a typical pre-launch project, expect to give up the following.
- Two to three days in the first month. Discovery sessions, usually recorded, where we take apart how the business actually runs rather than how the website says it runs.
- Access to real numbers. Management accounts, unit economics, staff costs, marketing spend against results. The financial model is only as good as what goes into it, and optimistic inputs produce a franchise that fails on the franchisee’s side.
- Decisions that are yours alone. Territory size, fee levels, and who your ideal franchisee actually is. We will advise and we will argue, but these are owner decisions and they cannot be outsourced.
- A few hours a month once recruitment starts. Mostly final meetings with shortlisted candidates. Most owners want to meet everyone at the start and then stop, which is the wrong way round.
If you want a rough read on where your business currently sits before committing to any of that, the franchise readiness scorecard takes about five minutes and returns a score with a breakdown by area.
The three decisions that decide whether it works
Franchise systems rarely fail because of the manual or the marketing. In our experience they fail on three early decisions that are difficult to reverse once franchisees are signed.
The fee structure. There is a persistent temptation to set the initial franchise fee high, because it looks premium and it pays for the setup, and to keep the ongoing management service fee low, because it makes the pitch easier. That combination funds year one and starves the support function from year two onwards. The ongoing fee is what pays for the thing franchisees are actually buying.
Territory size. Generous territories sell quickly and then leave you with a map you cannot fill and franchisees who never work their whole patch. Tight territories are a harder sell and produce franchisees who cannot reach the earnings you promised. Getting this wrong is close to impossible to fix later without buying territory back.
The first three franchisees. They become the reference customers, the case studies and the template every later recruit is measured against. Taking a marginal candidate to fill a gap in the plan is the single most expensive shortcut in franchising, and it usually costs two or three years.
Choosing between UK franchise consultants
There are dozens of firms calling themselves franchise consultants in the UK, and the websites all sound alike. Five questions separate them quickly, and we are happy to be asked all of them.
- Are you a bfa Advisor Member? It is not a guarantee, but it means the firm has been assessed and has signed up to the British Franchise Association’s code of ethics.
- Who will actually do my work? The firm’s name matters less than the person on your project. Ask what they have personally built or run.
- Do you recruit franchisees, and how many have you placed? A consultancy that only writes documents never has to find out whether the model sells.
- Where does the legal work sit? In house, referred out, or left to you. Each is workable, but you should know the cost and who carries the responsibility.
- Can I speak to a client you took from start to franchisee number five? Anyone can show you a launch. The first five placements are the real test.
For a wider view of the market, our guide to the main UK franchise consultancies sets out how the established firms differ, including where we are not the right fit.
Where our franchise consultants work
Our head office is in York, and our seven regional consultants cover the whole of the UK, so the person you work with is often based near you. For regional detail, see our pages for franchise consultants in London, Manchester and the North West, Yorkshire and Scotland. You can meet the team on our about us page.
What our clients say
We are rated 4.4 out of 5 from 22 independent reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Facebook. Three from franchisors we have worked with, shown word for word:
“The Franchise consultants have been excellent since day 1. Franchising was going into the unknown for me and my company but TFC explained everything and have supported me every step of the way.”
Patrick, Trustpilot, August 2025
“With a robust knowledge of the franchise market, they are a great choice of consultants to help you bring your business into the franchise market.”
C Haynes, Trustpilot, July 2025
“It was all new to us and wanted to make sure we found a consultancy that would be able to give us guidance and support along the way. TFC certainly did not fail with this and they have helped us secure our very first franchise.”
Hanifah Han, Trustpilot, April 2024
Every review, including the less glowing ones, is on our reviews page.
Company details
| Registered company name | UK Franchise Consultants Ltd |
|---|---|
| Trading as | The Franchise Consultant |
| Company number | 14295331 |
| VAT number | GB425954279 |
| Registered office | Unit 15 Kettlestring Lane, York, North Yorkshire, YO30 4XF |
| Telephone | 0808 281 4727 |
| Membership | bfa Advisor Member |
| Managing Director | Steve Lee |
Reading the company’s own site
We publish a separate site under the registered company name at ukfranchiseconsultants.co.uk. It covers the full five stage process, current UK market data and the regional team in more depth than this page. If you are still comparing firms, the UK Franchise Consultants FAQ answers most of the questions owners ask before a first call.
Common questions
How much do UK franchise consultants charge?
Franchise development in the UK typically costs between £15,000 and £35,000 for a full-service programme, with budget packages from around £6,000 and premium programmes at £40,000 or more. Franchisee recruitment is usually charged separately, as a monthly retainer, a success fee per franchisee placed, or both. The right level depends on how complex your business is and how much of the thinking, rather than just the paperwork, you want done for you.
How do I choose a franchise consultant in the UK?
Check they are a bfa Advisor Member, find out who will personally work on your project, ask how many franchisees they have placed rather than how many manuals they have written, and ask to speak to a client they have taken beyond their first few franchisees. A good consultant will also tell you if your business is not ready to franchise.
Can I franchise a business that trades from a single location?
Often yes, but a single site makes the viability work harder rather than easier. What a franchisee buys is evidence that the model transfers, and one location run by the founder is not yet evidence of that. Some owners open a second site themselves first, precisely to prove the system works without them standing in it.
Do I need a registered trade mark before I franchise?
You are licensing a brand, so it is usually sensible to own the thing you are licensing before anyone pays for it, and an unregistered mark is a weaker position if a franchisee or a competitor challenges it. Whether it is essential in your particular case is a legal question rather than a commercial one, and it is worth putting to a solicitor early because applications take months.
Should I franchise, or just open my own second site?
Franchising is a way of growing with someone else’s capital and someone else’s day to day commitment, not a way of avoiding the work of systemising the business. If you have the funding and the management capacity to open sites yourself, and you want to keep the whole margin, that is frequently the better route. Franchising earns its keep when capital or local management is the constraint.
What happens if a franchisee fails?
It happens in every network, and a well built system plans for it rather than pretending otherwise. The agreement should set out what happens to the territory, the customers and the assets, and the model should be able to absorb a failure without the whole network noticing. Networks that have never lost a franchisee are usually either very young or not being honest.
Talk to someone
The first conversation costs nothing and is not a sales call. If franchising is the wrong route for your business we would rather tell you at that point than take a project fee. Call 0808 281 4727, or use the contact page and we will come back to you within a business day.