Global Franchise 9.3

13 GLOBAL-FRANCHISE.COM Ins ight APPEAL OF MULTIPLES Large-scale franchise partners were limited in numbers in Europe generally. However, the past few years have seen a growing interest in joining or operating more than one brand. This provides access to safe capital as well as experienced operators who already know the ins and outs of franchising. Although finding these investors can be challenging, expos and active recruitment campaigns will see more international brands look for growth in this region. POPULARITY OF AUTOMATED BRANDS Investors are looking for more automated brands, where they need to rely less and less on employees. This is due to the increasing workforce costs, especially in developed markets, and the changing attitudes of Gen Z, which makes them less reliable due to frequent changes in employers and higher expectations. In Eastern Europe, automated brands are the latest trend in franchising, with emerging businesses including self-service laundries (not present before), automated grocery stores and storage services. Even brands in mainstream sectors (like B2B and catering) are looking for ways to automate their processes and limit the weight of the workforce. Since this makes operations easier in the long term, some investors are now specifically looking for brands that offer such solutions – for example, automated storage services are appealing to investors as they can operate without the need to be present on the premises. Franchise systems which are not keeping up with automatization will find it harder to attract new partners in the future.