Belvoir Chairman, Mike Goddard, who founded the successful UK residential lettings franchise in 1995, is enjoying a new honorary British Franchise Association (bfa) position as Director for International Affairs.

 

“After three years as Chairman of the bfa I felt that constitutionally the time had come for me to move on and the bfa then offered me the role of Director for International Affairs,” recalls Mike. “This is an honorary position rather than a paid appointment, but I was keen to give something back to the world of franchising and this seemed to be a perfect vehicle to effectively use my experience with Belvoir and bring it onto the world stage.

 

“The World Franchise Council (WFC) meets twice a year in different member countries and so far I have attended meetings in Seoul in South Korea and more recently in Berlin. The aim of the WFC is to promote ethical franchising worldwide and to share good ideas in the franchising community. All the major countries of the world are represented, from the largest member country, which is the USA to the smallest, which is Lebanon.

 

“The WFC is particularly useful to help spread branding across international boundaries. Governments look upon the spread of franchising extremely favourably, as it is a very powerful and effective way of growing business in a country.

 

“I am also a member of the European Franchise Federation (EFF), which meets in Berlin, and seeks to promote and defend franchising within the European Union.

 

“My role as Director of International Affairs is very enjoyable, but also challenging, because it involves working with other countries, lobbying government and trying to network with as many members as possible to share best franchising practice from all around the world. I firmly believe that Belvoir will ultimately grow and develop into an international brand.”

 

Fast forward

As well as many national and international roles within the franchising and lettings industry, Mike Goddard is also in strict training to compete in a series of triathlons, and aims to win in his age group of 60-65 and ultimately represent Great Britain in an International or European Championship race in 2012.

 

“I am training every day for the Olympic distance triathlon,” explains Mike. “This involves a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10 km run – all one after the other! Although I do a lot of other fun runs and cycle rides for charity, this is one that I am deadly serious about and it involves a huge amount of training.”