Beating off stiff competition, the partners were presented with the winner’s trophy and a cheque from HSBC for £5,000 at a gala dinner held last Thursday night at Birmingham’s Motorcycle Museum.

The Awards, sponsored by HSBC and presented in association with Express Newspapers, showcase Britain’s best-performing franchisees in an industry worth over £9 billion a year to the economy, and form the highlight of National Franchise Week.

The theme for this year’s awards was `Managing Change`, something the winners had demonstrated with particular skill. John Passfield and Roy Sharpe had both started out operating individual franchises with the Countrywide Grounds Maintenance Group, a franchise that specialises in maintaining a range of sites including commercial grounds, private gardens, sprawling parks and sports pitches.

In 1997, the two men joined forces in order to expand their business potential, specifically to secure a lucrative five-year contract with Severn Trent Water that neither had the resources to fulfil alone.

Their joint venture, Countrywide Central, was such a success that they decided to merge all their franchise operations, enabling them to exploit economies of scale and build a firmer platform for ongoing development.

They went on to purchase an additional four franchise areas, and now run three operational depots with 40 fully equipped mobile teams. With 120 trained employees, they offer a one-stop shop for fine turf and general amenity horticulture as well as hard and soft landscaping and arboriculture work.

Their company now boasts an impressive portfolio of clients including national organisations and corporates as well as the utilities and the Ministry of Defence, and turns over in excess of £3 million per year.

Mr Passfield and Mr Sharpe both cite the support of their franchisor as having been critical to the development of their combined business, which has involved them in the complexities of risk assessment, health and safety, environmental policies, training and quality control.

HSBC head of franchising Cathryn Hayes said: “Congratulations to John Passfield and Roy Sharpe on being named ‘Franchisee of the Year 2005’, they are an inspirational example of what can be achieved through commitment, hard work and making the most of a proven business formula.

“HSBC has supported many franchising success stories over the last 20 years and we recognise the valuable contribution that franchisees, such as Countrywide Grounds Maintenance, make to the UK economy by creating local businesses, jobs and wealth.”

bfa director general Brian Smart said: “The Franchisee of the Year Awards recognise the very best within our industry and highlight, through practical example, how powerful franchising can be as a business model.

“The breadth and quality of all the finalists in this year’s awards have been extremely impressive but the judges felt the Countrywide Grounds Maintenance franchise stood out in particular because of the way that these already successful franchisees were able to take their business to a new level by working closely with their franchisor and capitalising on the strength of the network.”