IRISH FRANCHISE AWARDS 

Top franchises announced at Irish Franchise Awards 2007

On Thursday, November 22^nd at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Dublin, the winners of the Irish Franchise Awards 2007 were announced at a formal black-tie award ceremony presented by the inimitable Marty Whelan.  The Irish Franchise Awards, sponsored by Ulster Bank, recognise excellence in franchising and top honours went to Holohan Solicitors, Kendlebell, Chem-dry, Quiznos, Snap Printing and Abrakebabra Investments which includes three franchises; Abrakebabra, The Bagel Factory and YO! Sushi.

The awards are notably prestigious this year as the franchise sector has recently shown spectacular growth and an increase in turnover to €2.099 billion with currently 270 active systems in Ireland providing 25,461 jobs.  This black-tie award ceremony is also a momentous occasion for the Irish Franchise association as they unveiled their new corporate identity.

In his address John Green, Chairman, of the Irish Franchise Association said; "The latest survey produced by Franchise Direct shows a very vibrant industry and this has been achieved without any recourse to State assistance or intervention, and I must say that our policy makers should not overlook the importance of the franchise sector. Numerous reports have highlighted the growing importance of the service sector in delivering future wealth and employment growth in Ireland and I think that the Irish franchise industry has a valuable contribution to make towards the shaping of future industrial and business policy"

John McGrane, Head of Commercial and Business Banking at Ulster Bank said; "We are delighted to be sponsoring these prestigious awards which recognise creativity, drive and commitment to excellence and promote the development of franchising in Ireland.  As the fastest growing financial player in the Irish market, we are proud to support their success and look forward to continuing our partnership with this sector in the years ahead.

Nominees and Winners of Irish Franchise Awards 2007

Franchise Person of the Year - presented by Irish Franchise Exhibition (John Hancock)

Nominees were:

Bill Holohan of Holohan Solicitors, Raymond Cowzer from the Bagel Bar, Owen Corcoran of Handyman Matters, Adrian Garvey of O'Briens Sandwich Bars, David Zebedee of Abrakebabra. 

The winner was Bill Holohan: Holohan Solicitors

Best Emerging Franchise- presented by Irish Franchise Magazine (Gordon Peterson)

Nominees were:

Kendlebell, Handyman Matters, the streat, Zumo, Munster Tool Co. 

The winner was Kendlebell: Tom Shanahan and David Kelly

Franchisee of the Year, Service - presented by Irish Independent Business Tom McEneaney

Nominees were:

Derek O Dwyer of Action Coach, Michael O Hara of Signs Express, John Dawson of Snap Printing and Donnchadh McGinn of Chem-Dry.

The winner was: Donnchadh & Denise McGinn: Chem-dry

Franchisee of the Year, Retail - presented by Irish Independent, Business (Tom McEneaney)

Nominees were:

Padraig Brady of the Bagel Bar, Edward Marcus of Quiznos, Paul Dalzell of the streat, Aonghus McGuinness from O'Briens Sandwich Bars, Martin and John Griffin of I/2 Price Ink.

The winner was: Edward Marcus: Quiznos

Franchise of the Year, Service - presented by Ulster Bank (John McGrane)

Nominees were:

Snap Printing, Signs Express, Shredit, ½ Price Ink, Chem-Dry Ireland

The winner was: Snap Printing (Muiris Murphy)

Franchise of the Year, Retail - presented by Ulster Bank (John McGrane)

Nominees were:

O'Briens Sandwich Bars, The Bagel Bar, Abrakebabra  Investments, the streat, Apache Pizza.

The winner was: Abrakebabra Investments (David Zebedee)