Global Influence: 6 international female leaders make their marks

I’d like to highlight six fabulous female franchise executives redefining success in international franchising. From navigating complex cross-border deals to building sustainable, ethical business models, these women are leaving their marks on global franchising.

Nicola Broadhurst

Commercial Partner and Head of the Franchise Team and ESG practice

Stevens & Bolton

Based in Guilford, England, Nicola specializes in commercial law, helping businesses scale up and expand while minimizing legal risk in the supply chain. Her practice focuses on international expansion through franchising as well as licensing, agency, and distribution. Much of her work involves the casual-dining sector. She understands the need to weigh risk versus reward when advising. She provides a full range of advice to franchisors and franchisees, including setting up franchise networks and franchise agreements and reviewing and adapting international franchise agreements for compliance with the British Franchise Association’s Code of Ethics. She advises clients on their choice of expansion method, including template agreements to help standardize relationships; customer service issues; and advertising and marketing compliance.

Katalin Mandel

CEO

Hungarian Franchise Association

Katalin Mandel earned a doctorate from the Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary. She has organized the annual International Franchise Exhibition and Franchise Conference in Budapest as the managing director of Dakexpo. For the past 20 years, she has helped foreign brands enter and adapt to the Hungarian and European markets while also supporting local chains as they build up their franchise systems. Since 2008, she has been the CEO of the Hungarian Franchise Association. She’s a lobbyist and has lectured at conferences and the Franchise Academy. She is the co-author of several books: Franchise as a Business Model, Franchising in Eastern Europe, and Franchising in V4 Countries.

Joyce Mazero

Chair, Global Franchise & Supply Network Practice

Polsinelli PC

A Dallas-based lawyer, Joyce has handled cross-border transactions in more than 60 countries, including product licensing and manufacturing, sales of manufacturing plants, master and area development franchising, joint ventures, M&A, bankruptcies, foreign investment, intellectual property disputes, and franchise relationship disputes. This representation has included clients from all business sectors—primarily outward facing in MENA and Europe. She has seen an increase in investment in U.S. franchises by multinationals. Issues range from preparing and registering franchise offerings, resolving financial security and currency exchange problems, facilitating the purchase and sale of interests, mediating disputes, appearing before government authorities, and participating in litigation.

Kristina Uhrgård Perman

CEO

Franchise Group Sweden

Kristina, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is the CEO and owner of Franchise Group. With a career spanning more than three decades, Kristina has unwavering dedication to shaping the future of franchising. Her entrepreneurial spirit extends beyond consultancy, leading her to invest in and co-own several franchise chains. This experience has equipped her with a deep understanding of the realities her clients face. Her experience as a consultant and subsequent owner at FranchiseKollegiet from 1994 to 2000 further showcased her commitment to pioneering initiatives, including Franchise Day and Franchise Guide. During the challenging Covid-19 years, Kristina spearheaded a virtual franchise fair that led to the upcoming launch of Franchise Arena, a virtual platform poised to revolutionize digital franchising.

Farrah Rose

International Franchise Director

The Franchising Centre UK

Based in the Greater Oxford area of the United Kingdom, Farrah started her career in franchising 40 years ago at Burger King Europe and set up the international franchise strategy for the second-largest British fashion retailer. She has consulted with nearly 400 international brands and supported their expansion strategies. A founding member of The Franchising Centre in the United Kingdom, she implemented international franchise consulting procedures. She works with 76 of our franchise experts, supporting our clients’ entry into various markets. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the European Bank named her a senior international advisor, who encourages ethical franchising in more than 26 emerging countries. Farrah is a member of the Global Franchise magazine and European Franchise Federation halls of fame.

Shelley Spandorf

Partner

Davis Wright Tremaine

Based in Los Angeles, Shelley has focused on franchise law for 45 years. She has represented franchisors, manufacturers, licensors, suppliers, franchisees, and distributors in all industry sectors. She has seen an uptick in inbound legal work from foreign franchisors bringing their franchise concepts to the United States and outbound projects focusing on markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. In launching outbound franchise programs, she no longer sees U.S. franchisors electing primarily the master franchise/subfranchise expansion model. Instead, they are opting for various-sized multi-unit development deals often coupled with rights of first refusal or first negotiation if the foreign developer hits the agreed-upon initial development targets.

Bottom line

These experienced professionals make it easier for global franchisors to successfully take their brands into new countries.

William (Bill) Edwards, CEO of Edwards Global Services (EGS), has more than four decades of successful international business experience spanning virtually every corner of the world across 12 business sectors and with more than 40 companies. He is uniquely qualified to steer senior executives successfully through the complexities of taking their businesses global. Download his GlobalVue country ranking chart at edwardsglobal.com/globalvue. He is available for consultation at +1-949-375-1896 and bedwards@edwardsglobal.com.