Shrewsbury employer wins top award at BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards
A Shrewsbury-based firm that owns multiple Starbucks and KFC franchised restaurants has been awarded a top prize at the 2024 BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards.
Akram Khan, owner of Gastronomy Foods UK Ltd, based in Shrewsbury, has been crowned ‘HSBC UK Best in Class Multi-Unit Multi Brand’ at the 2024 BFA HSBC UK British Franchise Awards. The award is for a franchisee who owns multiple units of different franchise brands.
With a strapline of ‘To be the most trusted & loved restaurant in town’, Gastronomy Foods UK Limited owns 38 KFC restaurants across the Midlands & North Wales and 24 Starbucks. In 2025 they are building six new Starbucks and 5 KFC’s.
The awards, the ‘Oscars’ of franchising, were held at a glittering black-tie event at the Telford International Centre, in Shropshire.
With their tag line of ‘Discover Your Tomorrow’, the BFA is widely recognised as the UK’s self-regulatory body for franchising. The results of their latest national survey in October revealed that the sector contributes £19.1 billion to the UK economy and has a failure rate of just 0.5%. The hotel and catering sector grew 34% since 2018.
Commenting on his win Acky said: “A huge thankyou to BFA and their sponsors HSBC for this tremendous accolade. This will mean so much to my whole team as it really belongs to them; they are in essence, what makes our franchise business so special.”
Pip Wilkins, Chief Executive of the BFA said: “This is such a great win for Acky and his team from Gastronomy Foods UK Ltd. The judges were very impressed with his entry, despite him being up against some very stiff competition. We thank him and his team for their hard work and dedication and for being such great ambassadors for ethical business format franchising in the UK today.”
UK Head of Franchise at sponsors HSBC UK Gillian Morris said: “Judging the awards is always so hard, but I am forever impressed by the calibre of entries we receive and the achievements of the winners. It was a pleasure to attend the awards this evening and I am glad to report that the UK franchise sector is a buoyant and successful place to do business, and I send my huge congratulations to all the winners.”
