Pet Food Co. Wins Now And Then Award

The pet food franchise Oscar was awarded 3rd place in the British Franchise Association's, (BFA) 2008 Franchisor of the Year Awards at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel last week.

The top 3 made up a mixed bag of British business. The winner was the international car valeting products company Autosmart and Oscar was pipped to second place by the accountancy franchise TaxAssist.

Each year the awards, run by Express Newspapers and HSBC Bank, are given a theme. This year franchisors were asked to demonstrate what developments they had brought to their businesses in the last five years.

Oscar puts its success in part down to a new commitment to establishing strong partnerships with the franchisees. Its Directors even embarked on a UK tour where they met each and every one of their 90 franchisees.

The company says franchisee opinions are important to the franchisor. The company holds regular meetings at their Preston head office to swap ideas and consult on strategy.

Oscar also recently underwent a complete re-branding with new pet products, professional packaging, a new van design and a re-launched uniform.

It says PR also plays a key part. Oscar went from very little publicity to receiving over 1,000 pieces of national and regional press coverage, [such as this?], and taking advantage of unusual pet stories that its franchisees encounter.