Franchise Brands mulls move from London’s AIM after chief’s promotion

Franchise Brands is considering a move from junior market AIM to the main market of the London Stock Exchange following the appointment of a new CEO.

The Macclesfield-based £300m Property franchiser, which has been listed on AIM since 2016, said today that given the “scale and growth ambitions” of the company, it was taking the first step in its journey to move to a main LSE listing, though stressed the plan was at an “early stage”.

Despite its ambitions, the company’s £300m size makes it just the 55th biggest company on AIM, and much smaller than others on the market like £3.1bn, Jet2.

AIM has been hit by rumours that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will target it in this month’s Budget, imposing inheritance tax on stocks on the junior market that could sink share prices by as much as 25 per cent.

Franchise Brands’ stock price is up 278 per cent since it listed eight years ago, though little of that growth has come over the last three years.

The group has more than doubled its revenue over the last year, as the Franchise Brands acquired Pirtek Europe for £210.8m last April.

The business achieved a similar doubling in scale the previous year with the acquisition of Filta in March 2022.

A new chief executive was also appointed to Franchise Brands today, with chief of the water and waste services division Peter Molloy being promoted to group head today.

“The group has reached a scale where the timing is right for the appointment of a group CEO at board level, to separate my responsibilities and provide greater focus on the strategic and commercial development of the business to support our ambitious growth plans,” said executive chair Stephen Hemsley.

“Our principal franchise brands have significant growth potential through increasing their small shares of large, fragmented markets, expanding their range of services and geographical penetration, and cross-selling to our large customer base,” added Molloy.