Farrah’s career began at Burger King in the early 1980s, a time when franchising was still very much in its infancy, and many pre-conceptions and inequalities dominated the sector, not least the limited opportunities for women. It was during this time that Farrah came to realise her vision of a better, more ethical approach to franchising for everyone. Working with this well-established and prominent franchise brand and, later, the Arcadia Group, helping to define the international franchise growth strategy for a number of their fashion and department store brands across the world, she was in a unique position to begin to shape the future of ethical franchising for both her employers and then her own clients.

In the 1990s, she became a key partner in The Franchising Centre (then known as Howarth Franchising), one of the first of a new wave of consulting firms founded on the very principles of positive transformation in ethical franchising she had already begun to champion. At that time, franchise consultancy processes were still very new in Europe, but as The Franchising Centre’s Head of International Development, she was able to spearhead new systems, approaches, and standards which are still the mainstay of the industry to this day.

Using these self-generated consulting methodologies, Farrah has supported well over 300 PLC and SME companies over the past 26 years, helping them to define the correct growth strategies. She has contributed to the evolution of ethical franchising from its infancy to a respectable, effective and commonly used method of growth, not only in the UK, but also right across Europe, the GCC, BRIC, and South America.

Farrah’s clients over the years have been from an extraordinary range of backgrounds, from Education, Fitness, Entertainment, Food &Beverage, and Hospitality, to retail, and all B to B and B to C sectors. She has worked to develop a great number of franchises which meet not only the highest codes of ethics set by her native Franchise Association, but are also tailored to the specific needs of each of her clients, demonstrating her ability to transfer her skills to any sector.

Some of Farrah’s most notable clients include WaterBabies, who went on to win the Best international Franchisor of the Year award in 2016, and younger brands such as Bread Ahead, who have enjoyed meteoric international expansion in recent years. She has also worked with very big name brands, such as Formula 1 Grand Prix F! Arcade, YO! Sushi and Harry Ramsden’s, all of whom have sought her services to develop long-term franchising strategies. She has also worked with several universities, private schools, academies, and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health to assess the relevance and viability of franchising for their operations. Brands such as F45, Puregym, KFC, Boots Retail international have also consulted with her to seek faster ways of expanding their franchise network.

Against fierce competition (From Commonwealth Countries) Farrah has also been selected as the International Franchise Advisor to the Commonwealth Secretariat with a mission to raise awareness about benefits of ethical franchising, and how businesses can meet the criteria for franchising. For four years, she worked closely with the Maltese Government, stake holders, and Maltese SMEs, travelling with their president and cabinet members on trade missions, and putting into place prototypes for the Commonwealth Secretariat to use in training others within the Commonwealth. Her processes have also been used by the Commonwealth Secretariat as far afield as Singapore and Trinidad-Tobago.

Farrah was also called upon to train several international trade advisors for DIT London, and 36 commercial officers in British embassies around the world, in how to raise awareness of ethical franchising when dealing with local or British SMEs. In 2019, she was chosen as the senior international franchise advisor to the European Bank for reconstruction and development, and ran numerous Franchise Awareness seminars for a variety of SMEs, stake holders and banks worldwide, including in Mongolia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Belarus, North Macedonia, Moldova and Kosovo.

Farrah has also been recognised in a great number of international awards, such as Global Franchise Magazine’s ‘Highest Contribution to international franchising’ Award at the IFA Convention 2020 in Orlando, and a GNF Los Grandes Award 2022 in ‘the Creator’ category. She has also been a BFA judge for best Franchisor of the year award (2008), and a judge several times for Global Franchise Magazine annual awards.

In 2023, she was inducted into the Global Franchise Hall of Fame, at the IFC convention Las Vegas and has been invited to join the small panel of executive women at the BFA hosted ‘Executive Women in Business conference (EWIB) later in the year.

To show diversity of her abilities and knowledge, increasingly more highly established brands, such as Harry Ramsden’s and F1 Arcade, are using Farrah’s four decades of international franchise experience by appointing her in Non Exec Advisory roles to their Boards to offer ongoing franchise development strategic advice, steering them in the right direction to achieve their objectives.

She is in the process of co-writing a book on international franchising with Edward Global Services, and, along with her 70+ network of associates, is a regular contributor, to major UK based franchising media, writing articles which put both emerging and developed franchise markets under the spotlight (links below).

Farrah considers it an absolute honour to have journeyed with so many esteemed colleagues and associates from the BFA, EFF, IFA and WFC and to have seen the industry go from strength to strength.