Global Franchise 9.1

A n elite gathering of international franchising’s brightest stars celebrated winning global recognition with their peers at the Global Franchise Awards 2024 reception on February 16, ahead of the 2024 IFA Annual Convention in Phoenix, which started the following day. Hosted by Jack Monson, CEO of Brand J and founder host of Social Geek podcast, the ceremony awarded 30 winners across 18 categories, each judged by a panel of franchise experts and international association leaders. This year’s judges included Farrah Rose, Head of International Development at The Franchising Centre, Sherry McNeal, President and CEO of the Canadian Franchise Association and Jennifer Brandeen, COO of IFA. Anytime Fitness was this year’s highest achiever, scooping not only the Best Fitness Franchise category win, but also bagging Regional Champion (Americas) and the overall Grand Champion awards, marking yet another sensational year for this global success story. Judges commented on the brand’s founding philosophy of People, Purpose, Profits and Play, which has helped cultivate the largest and fastest-growing fitness franchise network in the world. "It’s great to be amongst so many different great franchise systems out there,” said Eric Keller, VP of Franchise Support at Anytime Fitness. This award is a testament to our great franchise partners around the globe and our small but mighty team that we have back at our corporate office – they’re what makes “Winning the Global Franchise Grand Champion award last year was particularly poignant because it rewarded and honored all our stakeholders, our franchisees, our team members and our customers – and, by extension, all the folks in this amazing industry sector that supports the growth of excellence, the growth of great customer differentiation and the growth of entrepreneurship” ROB PRICE, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SCHOOL OF ROCK , SPONSOR AND 2023 GRAND CHAMPION Rob Price, School Of Rock GLOBAL FRANCHI SE AWARDS 16 GLOBAL FRANCHISE | ISSUE 9.1