The British & International Franchise Exhibition begins today at London's Olympia.  There's a view that franchises represent an appealing opportunity for entrepreneurial types wanting to get started in business because of the support and advice that should be available from the franchise owner.

In the current climate it's not surprising to hear that some franchise businesses are also reporting a boom in interest from people who've received suitably enabling redundancy cheques and are looking to start afresh.

I wondered if any of our notable print franchises would be pushing their offerings, but there's no sign of AlphaGraphics, Printing.com, or Kall Kwik and Prontaprint owner On Demand Communications on the exhibitor list. The exception is Minuteman, which will be there and also at the upcoming regional franchise events in Birmingham and Glasgow too. The "hot" area in the print space seems to be signs, with Fastsigns, Sign-a-Rama, and Signs Express all exhibiting.

As a result of having a dig around on the exhibition's site, I've also been reminded about the Xpress Print & Design franchise that launched at the beginning of last year. The strategy for this one involves a unit of 12 square metres located on the floor of a shopping centre, which is an intriguing proposition. I don't spend enough time in shopping malls to know whether this model is taking off or not. Something to find out.