UK Franchise Data Explorer

Network inclusion

The Explorer includes every network published in the UK Franchise Growth Index that has a published Five Fibre assessment: 808 networks as of 20 October 2026. A network that is in draft, under review or archived is left out of every figure.

Data collection

Twine Growth researches each network from publicly available information: its own website and franchise pages, its published franchise terms, industry directories and public records. Each fact is recorded against the network it describes, with the sources kept on file.

Verification

Each record is reviewed before it is published, and carries the date it was last researched. Records are reviewed again over time, and a network can ask us to check anything it believes is wrong.

Missing data

A value that is not published is left out of a calculation, never counted as zero. A share is always of the networks whose answer is known, and every figure says how many networks it rests on.

Some values are left out because they cannot be right as recorded: a count of franchisees or locations that is really a year ("54 franchisees reported in 2019" read as 2019), an investment figure that is really a percentage, an investment range whose upper figure is below its lower one (both are left out), and a gap between founding and franchising that would be negative. The networks affected are corrected in the Index as they are found.

Business models (management, home based, mobile, retail premises, executive and master franchise) are counted where the research recorded them, and a share of networks offering a model is of the networks with an answer recorded for it. A network with no answer recorded for a model is left out of that share.

Investment

Investment is the figure a network publishes, recorded as a number in pounds: the minimum (Investment From) and, where published, the maximum (Investment To). Some networks quote figures plus VAT, some include a franchise fee only and some a full set-up cost; the Explorer uses the figures as published. Calculations use the recorded number, and a network's own wording is kept on its Index profile.

Default investment bands: under £10,000; £10,000 to £25,000; £25,001 to £50,000; £50,001 to £100,000; over £100,000.

Network size

Franchisee and location numbers are approximate and as published by the network, which may count UK or worldwide units, and may count locations differently. They are best read as medians across many networks rather than as exact figures for one. Fewer networks publish these than any other figure, so check the sample size on each result.

Default size bands: 1 to 10, 11 to 25, 26 to 50, 51 to 100, 101 to 250, 251 to 500 and over 500.

Mean and median

The median is the middle value when the figures are in order (the mean of the two middle values when there is an even number). It is the default for investment, locations and franchisees, because a few very large networks pull the mean far above what is typical. The mean is available where it helps, and the lowest, highest and range are shown as published values.

Figures are rounded half up for display: money to the nearest pound, percentages to whole numbers, Fibre scores to one decimal place. A share is never rounded up to 100% or down to 0%: 533 of 534 networks is shown as 99.8%, and 1 of 284 as 0.4%.

Five Fibre scores

Each network is assessed against the Five Fibre Framework™: Assess, Build, Launch, Grow and Amplify, each scored out of 20 from what can be evidenced publicly at the time of research, combining to an overall score out of 100. Scores are bands of evidence, not a recommendation to buy a franchise. The Fibre bands are Critical Gap (up to 4.5), Weak Foundation (5 to 8.5), Developing (9 to 12.5), Strong (13 to 16.5) and Scale Ready (17 and above). The strongest and weakest Fibre for a view are the highest and lowest medians, with ties settled by the mean. The Index methodology explains the assessment in full.

Sample sizes

Different statistics rest on different numbers of networks, because not every network publishes every figure. Each result shows how many qualifying networks it is based on, and how many in the view were left out because they have no published value.

Data confidence

A figure needs at least 10 qualifying networks, or it is not shown. Results are labelled Strong data (50 or more qualifying networks), Moderate data (20 to 49) or Limited data (10 to 19). The automatic findings use only results based on 20 or more networks, state a difference only when it clears the thresholds listed under Discover, and never describe a reason for a difference.

A chart of how the networks spread across bands (of investment, size or age, say) is only shown when at least 10 networks in the view have that figure recorded.

Filters combine the way a database does: a network with no recorded value for a filter is neither in nor out of it, so it is left out of that view. That means "BFA member: Yes" and "BFA member: No" together can cover fewer networks than the whole Index.

An association between two figures within the data is never evidence that one causes the other.

Discover

Discover looks for findings worth exploring in the current view, across eight subjects: investment, network size, recruitment, geography, business models, franchise history, industries and Five Fibre performance. Each finding is calculated directly from the networks in the view, with the same rules as every other figure, and every figure behind it rests on at least 20 networks.

A difference is only stated when it is large enough to matter. For two medians, the higher must be at least 15% above the lower for investment, 50% above for network size and 10% above for franchise age; an industry is only named as franchising for the shortest time when its median is at least 2 years below the view's. Between overall Five Fibre scores the gap must be at least 3 points, on a single Fibre out of 20 at least 1.5 points, and between shares at least 5 percentage points for networks recruiting and 10 for other shares. The same thresholds apply to the automatic findings. The largest differences come first. Findings say what the data shows within the networks analysed, never a reason why.

A group is only named as the highest, lowest, largest or most common when no other group has the same figure. Comparisons by franchise age use the age bands shown in the chart behind them, so each figure can be found there.

Each finding says how many networks it is based on and links to the analysis behind it, so it can be checked and taken further.

Custom queries

The Advanced view's query builder combines filters with AND (all of them), OR (any of them) and NOT (exclude the networks a group matches); in the builder, groups go one level deep. One query can hold up to 24 filters in all, counting the filters on the left. "Over" and "under" leave out the figure itself; "at least" and "at most" include it.

As everywhere in the Explorer, a network with no recorded value for a filter is neither in nor out of it: it is left out of the view, whether the filter includes or excludes. So including and excluding the same filter can together cover fewer networks than the whole Index.

Citation snapshots

A citation snapshot keeps one view's figures fixed at a permanent address: /uk-franchise-data-explorer/view/ followed by a short code. The figures are worked out when the snapshot is made, from the Index as published at that moment, and the snapshot stores the answer the Explorer showed: the question, the statistics, the findings, the chart figures, the date of the data and the method version. It never stores or shows the records behind them.

A snapshot does not change when the research is updated, so it can be cited and checked later. The same view on the same data always gives the same snapshot. Snapshot pages are kept out of search engines, and each one links back to its view with today's data.

Geography

The HQ region is taken from the county or region each network records, using standard UK regions. Only UK headquartered networks have a region: 416 of the 567 with a UK headquarters record one. Region results describe where networks are headquartered, not where their franchisees trade.

Recruitment

Recruitment status is as recorded in the Index. "Active" and "Recruiting" are counted together as active or recruiting; limited, selective, resales only and other statuses are counted separately.

Updates

The Explorer calculates from the networks published in the Index, and updates whenever the Index is published. This view was last updated on 20 October 2026. Figures in the Twine Growth reports were calculated on their own publication dates and may differ slightly from a live view.

This is version 1.1 of the method. Version 1.1 added Discover, the query builder and citation snapshots. It also brought the automatic findings onto the same thresholds as Discover, stopped a share being rounded up to 100% or down to 0%, and holds back a chart of bands when fewer than 10 networks have the figure. Medians, shares and every other calculation are unchanged since version 1.0. Each snapshot records the version it was made with.

Corrections

If you represent a franchise network and something about it is wrong or out of date, tell us. We will review it against the evidence, and any correction reaches the Index and the Explorer together.