| The venue for the franchise exhibition was the GMEX. | | | | exhibitors after the venue closed and this was our |
| It has a lovely location, situated in the heart of | | | | chance to talk to the other franchisors. |
| Manchester and surrounded by beautiful buildings both | | | | I find that on Friday you meet a lot of serious punters |
| old and new. There are lovely restaurants, bars and | | | | whilst on Saturday you get a lot of "tyre kickers" |
| cafes all within easy walking distance. | | | | attending. People have to take time out from their |
| The exhibitor list at the franchise exhibition in | | | | normal work routine to attend on Friday and are |
| Manchester was wide and varied with businesses | | | | therefore more serious about starting a business, whilst |
| opportunities available starting from as little as 5000 | | | | on Saturdays you get some people attending that |
| pounds all the way up to 100,000. | | | | have no intention of ever buying a franchise. |
| Most of the exhibitors used standard shell schemes | | | | Later that night, we ended up in a beautiful Italian |
| and stuck their posters on the wall ready to greet | | | | restaurant just across the road after a busy Friday. |
| potential franchisees. A few had spent a small fortune, | | | | Gio (5/7 Mosley Street - Tel: 0161 228 2030) has to be |
| with bespoke stands, purpose built for the exhibition | | | | the best Italian restaurant in the UK. The food was |
| that really stood out from the crowd. | | | | excellent, the service exceptional and the bill for all 6 of |
| The attendee list of franchisors had all the usual | | | | us including drinks came to 120 pounds. It is well worth |
| suspects including Cash Generators, My Home, Punch | | | | driving to Manchester just to eat in this fabulous |
| Taverns, Chips Away and of course CityLocal. | | | | restaurant. |
| There were a couple of really interesting franchises | | | | On Saturday the exhibition did not start until 10:00am so |
| that captured my attention. One offered a beauty | | | | we had time to check out of the hotel, dump our |
| treatment that promised a tighter belly after a few | | | | luggage into the car and have breakfast at McDonalds. |
| treatments. They were doing free treatments to | | | | Saturday was a lot busier than Friday but fortunately |
| anybody daring enough to lie on their bed and expose | | | | for us the exhibitions finished at 4:00pm. No sooner |
| their belly in front of the public. | | | | had the last attendee left then everybody started |
| There was another unusual franchise which stood out | | | | dismantling their stands and within an hour most of the |
| in my mind. It was a tiny van, emblazoned with logos | | | | exhibitors had finished and were heading home. |
| and specially built to provide sandwiches & coffee | | | | We were in our car and reached Leicester at 8:00pm |
| to business parks. I can imagine people queuing to buy | | | | just in time for some lovely home made cooking |
| lunch from this well designed business on wheels. | | | | courtesy of Zak's lovely new wife Auzma. |
| The exhibition was really busy on Friday until around | | | | All in all, the exhibition was well worth attending, |
| 2:30pm. Then the crowds slowly started dispersing and | | | | although not as busy as Birmingham. Our next |
| the exhibition closed at 5:00pm. Fran Info the | | | | exhibition is in Doncaster and we hope to see you |
| organisers laid on free drinks and snacks for the | | | | there. |