Last Thursday, nearly 600 members of the franchising community gathered for the prestigious annual BFA HSBC Awards dinner, known as the ‘Oscars of Franchising’, to celebrate the finest in franchising in the UK.

Owner of ChipsAway Exeter and Torbay, Brandon Akerman, was proudly awarded the ‘Next Generation’ accolade – an award which looks to highlight those who’ve achieved so much before they’ve even reached the age of 30.

Brandon invested in his ChipsAway franchise in 2020, aged just 21, after completing university with a drive to work for himself. After just 6 months in business, Brandon expanded into a Car Care Centre (fixed base workshop) to be able to better service the growing demand for car paintwork repairs locally. Soon after this he added a 2nd territory covering the Torbay area with a mobile operation, and has continued to excel ever-since. 

Commenting on his win, Brandon said: “I am absolutely thrilled and hugely honoured to receive this prestigious award. It really does make all the hard work, dedication and effort of the past few years worthwhile, and motivates me to strive for even further growth and the development of my ChipsAway business.

I am extremely grateful for this recognition and would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the judges, Head Office support team, my fantastic employees, not to mention my Mum and Dad who have always been my greatest supporters.

This award serves as a reminder that dreams are attainable with perseverance, and I am incredibly humbled by this fantastic achievement. My aim now is to continue to push the boundaries of what I can achieve, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store – the sky is the limit!”

Pip Wilkins, Chief Executive of the BFA said: “Our huge congratulations to all the winners. We had some fantastic entries this year and these winners really stood out from the crowd. We would like to thank them for being such great ambassadors of the BFA and for representing the very best in UK franchising.”

UK Head of Franchise, Commercial Banking at sponsors HSBC Bank Gillian Morris said: “The diversity of franchising on display at tonight’s awards ceremony – across so many brands and sectors – demonstrates the strength and reach of the industry.  Choosing a winner is never easy and I’d like to join Pip in thanking everyone who entered and send our warm congratulations to all the winners on these very well-deserved awards.”