If you are about to become involved in franchising, you'll
soon come across a franchise agreement. These are often 40-60 pages long (sometimes
much longer) and deal with a wide range of different legal concepts. It is by
far the most important of the legal documents.
It
is a legal franchise UK document that outlines the obligations of both the franchisee
and the franchisor and protects the interests of the parties involved. The most important part of the agreement is that it is fair to
both. This may seem like an odd thing to say as the franchise agreement may
seem pretty one sided, mainly in favor of the franchisor, but the franchisor
must accept obligations which are enforceable and non-vague obligations to
provide assistance, guidance and advice.
As the franchise agreement is weighted
in favor of the franchisor and will not be changed by the franchisee, it is
important that you ask a franchise
solicitor to check the agreement for you. You should only use a solicitor
who specialists in franchising as they will have checked through hundreds of
agreements. So whilst the document cannot be changed, the solicitor will have
the experience and knowledge to highlight to you those areas which you need to
be aware of.
Along with these guiding principles, the
franchise agreement should run for at least five years and franchisees should
have the right to automatically renew on at least two occasions.