‘Hungry Jack’ Cowin Slams WA Franchise Report

SmartCompany.com.au:

Jack Cowin’s company Competitive Foods has labelled a Western Australian inquiry into franchising a ‘failure’ and has promised to continue its fight for reform of the sector.

Chairman of the wide ranging inquiry into the franchise sector, Chris Bothams, yesterday delivered his report to Western Australian Small Business Minister Margaret Quirk.

Bothams’s recommendations include:

* Increased disclosure by franchisors on matters such as their financial position and their services they will provide to franchisees.

* Amendments to the Franchise Code to make explicit whether a franchisee is entitled to any compensation for goodwill when a franchise licence ends.

* The imposition of penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code.

* The establishment of a dedicated franchise enforcement unit within the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The inquiry was established largely as a result of pressure from fast food entrepreneur Jack Cowin after Yum Foods International, which owns the KFC brand, refusing to renew KFC franchise licenses held by Competitive Foods in Western Australia.

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