Reinvestment / restyling within an existing franchise concept.
In practice, we have recently seen more and more developments that point to a conversion/restyling of the franchise organization, for which the franchisee must reinvest.
An important question in such a situation is whether the existing franchise agreement offers the possibility of realizing such a conversion/restyling of the entire franchise organization?
If a provision is included in the existing franchise agreement from which, in short, it follows that the franchisee can be obliged, at the franchisor’s request, to cooperate in a “collective conversion/restyling” of the organisation, then the franchisee can (in principle) must also be adhered to. It is important here who is expected to bear the costs for the conversion/restyling.
If the franchisee is expected to make a significant contribution to this, it is important that the franchisor preferably provides forecasts that are geared to the new situation, in order to be able to take the consequences of the conversion into account. This is all the more pressing now that this situation can be compared with the situation of the so-called pre-contractual phase. After all, even in the situation of a major restructuring of the organization, the franchisor must cover the investments to be made by the franchisees with the necessary care obligations.
If a reinvestment is of a limited nature, a prognosis may be omitted, although in such a situation a franchisor should also ask himself to what extent the reinvestment will have a negative effect on the franchisee’s organisation. If it is a considerable investment, the franchisor should, as already stated above, ask himself whether the investment actually leads to an improvement in turnover or whether a loss of turnover is prevented. In addition, the requested investment must be justified in relation to the operating result of the franchisees involved. In short, this must be done with the necessary caution and policy. This will be discussed in more detail in one of the following articles.
Ludwig & Van Dam franchise attorneys, franchise legal advice
Other messages
The bank’s duty of care in franchise agreements
On 23 May 2017, the Court of Appeal in The Hague, EQLI:NL:GHDHA:2017:1368, had to rule on the question whether the bank should have warned a prospective franchisee in connection with the
Article in Entrance: “Standing up”
“Can I fire an employee with immediate effect if he steals something trivial, such as food that has passed its expiration date?”
Arbitration clause in franchise agreement sometimes inconvenient
On 20 July 2016, the District Court of Gelderland, ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2016:4868, ruled on the validity of an agreement in a franchise agreement, whereby disputes would be settled
Supermarket letter – 18
Can an entrepreneur be obliged to operate a different supermarket formula?
Article in Entrance: “New owner”
“The catering company where I work has been taken over. The new owner now says that I no longer have to work for him, but can he refuse me as an employee?”
Directors’ liability in the settlement of a franchise agreement
Privately, can the director of a franchisee legal entity be liable to the franchisor if the franchisee legal entity wrongfully fails to provide business to the franchisor?