About this franchise agreement
This is a franchise agreement for a restaurant, cafe or other food retail business. It covers an enormous number of issues. It is comprehensive enough to be used by the largest multinational restaurant franchises. For smaller businesses, it should be an ideal basis from which to craft an agreement that not only protects the rights of the franchisor, but also impress prospective franchisees.
We would expect this agreement to be used by a solicitor or other franchise advisor. However, because the key to drawing a good franchise agreement relies on knowing the nuts and bolts of how the business works (rather than knowing complicated law), a business owner could also use it with ease. Use of plain English makes every sentence clear.
Should you be buying an agreement from an on-line retailer?
The advice from the largest association of franchisors in the UK, the British Franchising Association (the bfa) is that you shouldn’t use an advisor who isn’t a paid subscriber to their association. That advice extends to franchise agreements bought from online retailers. This isn’t impartial advice. The trade association is comprised of experienced and knowledgeable people, but it is a private company, commercially operated to promote and to protect the financial interests of its subscribers.
There is no additional qualification required to practice franchise law, just as there isn’t to being able to draw a lease. Commercial experience is the important quality to seek.
When it comes to selecting a franchise agreement from an online retailer, we suggest that you look at templates from several different suppliers in order to evaluate which one is most comprehensive and suits you best. Templates are not expensive compared to the cost of a solicitor's time and the benefit to your business of getting your franchise agreement right is enormous. Bear in mind that a short agreement, regardless of where it is bought, is unlikely to protect your business sufficiently, not because the law relating to franchising is overwhelmingly complex, but rather because the practical considerations of how the franchise will work require more than a few pages to record.
The law in this franchise agreement
There are no specific laws or regulation for franchising. Your franchise agreement is governed by common law. That gives you great freedom in structuring the arrangement in the best way for you and your franchisees. You can set the rules as you like. However, your prospective franchisees and their advisors will look carefully at your proposed agreement.
That means that the agreement becomes very important in recording the rights and obligations of the franchisor and the franchisee. It should reflect accurately and in detail the terms agreed. The more comprehensive the franchise agreement is, the less likely there are to be misunderstandings and disputes later on.
In research on franchises, you may find mention of European law set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by Regulation 330/2010 and Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Rules. The law was drawn to catch pyramid selling and most vertical agreements such as franchises are excluded from it. Provided that this agreement is used for a real franchise operation, this law should not be relevant.
The British Franchising Association promotes ethical franchising. We agree with this, not as a matter of philosophy but because a successful franchisor is one who helps his franchisees to create profitable businesses while he expands his own. Your franchise agreement has to form the basis of a sound and profitable deal for both sides.
When to use this franchise agreement
This franchise agreement has been drawn for businesses in the restaurant and food retails industry. Whether the food is hot or cold, and whether it is consumed on-site or taken-away does not matter to this agreement. Your business might be:
- A restaurant and cafe chain
- Take away or fast food outlets such as fish and chip shops, pizzerias
- Mobile food outlets
- Market stalls
The agreement is comprehensive enough to be used by a business of any size, but we assume that the business will be small or medium sized, perhaps with several established locations already. The franchisor may be new to franchising, or may be looking to extend into the UK.
The franchise territory can be of any size from part of a town to a continent. Generally, it is more advantageous to the franchisor to keep the area small and grant licenses to operate in additional areas to the same franchisee later. This agreement can be used to grant territory outside the UK.
The agreement does not cover ownership and lease of property (premises) by the franchisor. The agreement assumes that the franchisee will own or let the premises outside of this agreement either from the franchisor or someone else.
Agreement features and benefits
We have given the buyer of this document a large degree of control over what the franchisor will give and what the franchisee will do in return. We have included the usual provisions such as:
- Use of trademarks and intellectual property
- Provision of marketing and marketing materials
- Development of public relations and promotional campaigns
- Training and support
- Sourcing ingredients
Protection of his investment is likely to be very important to a franchisee. The agreement covers this in detail, from franchise renewal rights, transfer with pre-emption to intellectual property that the franchisee might create. These should provide fair terms that incentivise the franchisee and allow him to benefit from having built up his franchise without the franchisor relinquishing too many rights.
This is an incredibly comprehensive agreement, but we appreciate that it hard to compare it to those of our competitors without having it in your hands. We therefore would encourage you to buy it, in the knowledge that if it is not what you need, we will happily give an immediate and full refund to you. We also extend our guarantee period from our standard 30 days to 90 with this document.
Agreement contents
This is one of the longest Net Lawman documents with 35 pages (excluding guidance). The contents include the following paragraphs:
- Warranties that the franchisee is able to take on the franchise
- Grant of franchise
- Obligations of the franchisor to the franchisee: both initially and on-going
- Fees and payment terms
- Rights to renewal
- Data Protection Act compliance
- Franchisee’s undertakings
- Transfer terms: including pre-emption rights for the franchisor to acquire the business
- Terms relating to the corporate structure of the franchisee
- Termination
- Insurance
- Risk and retention of title
- Use of subcontractors
- Intellectual property rights
- Confidentiality
- Limitation of liability
- Publicity
- Indemnity
- Dispute resolution
- Other paragraphs to protect your interests
Reasons to buy from Net Lawman
Full money back guarantee – buy with confidence
This franchise agreement comes with a no questions asked full money back guarantee. You take no risk that it might not be right. Once you buy it, we’ll give you 90 days to evaluate it in any way you want. If for any reason you’re not happy, just e-mail us and we’ll refund your money in full immediately.
Guidance notes included - prior legal knowledge is not required
Comprehensive guidance notes, written by the author of the document, are included. These notes ensure that you don’t need to be a lawyer or have knowledge of the law to understand which paragraphs you should edit to complete the agreement.
Minimal editing required
This franchise agreement for restaurants and food retail businesses has been written specifically in such a way that you don’t need to spend hours editing it. It uses an approach where you remove the sections that aren’t applicable to you, so you don’t have to add any back, write your own, or worry about whether you are using correct legal language.
Paragraphs have been written to stand alone from each other. Removing one that isn’t applicable to your circumstances doesn’t affect the standing of any other in the template.
Plain language minimises future disagreements
Your franchise agreement for restaurants and food retail businesses is real law written in plain language that all parties will understand. This will minimise the likelihood of later disputes.
If a dispute does arise and you find yourself in court, the judge will look more favourably on a legal agreement written in plain language over one peppered with complicated legal jargon. Your case will be stronger if it is clear that both sides understood the agreement when it was signed.
Buy once – re-use again and again
You can use the agreement with new franchisees. Either re-use your edited copy, or create new agreements from the master version.
Delivered straight to your inbox
As soon as you complete the secure checkout process, we will send your franchise agreement for restaurants and food retail businesses straight to your inbox. We will also keep a copy for you for 60 days in our customer area so you can access it even when you are away from your e-mail.
Still unsure whether this is the right document for you?
If you are unsure whether this franchise agreement template is suitable for your particular circumstances, then you have two options. The first is to buy now, evaluate the document, and use the 30 day, full money back guarantee to obtain a refund if it isn’t suitable. You take no risk in seeing the template. The second option is to contact us and ask. We can’t offer you legal advice on your situation, but we can help you find the document you want. We aim to respond to your question within 24 hours. |
