Stewart Germann has been a leading franchise lawyer for many years, but he has also recently qualified as a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE), being the only internationally recognised professional accreditation programme for franchise executives.
He is also to lecture in a subject that to a large extent has been neglected by New Zealand’s tertiary institutions despite the booming, multi-billion dollar franchise industry continuing to develop across multiple commercial areas in this country.
The award was made in Australia recently and recognises the expertise of those franchise professionals who deserve the honour.
>> More jobs than ever on LawFuel’s jobs site here
Stewart Germann has been at the forefront of franchise law work in New Zealand for many years, as well as maintaining an active association with the Franchise Association and developing some of the leading franchise documentation in New Zealand through his representation of some of the country’s largest franchise companies and franchisees.
Originally founded in the USA over 20 years ago, it was licensed to the Franchise Council of Australia in 2014.
Stewart Germann says, ‘In my opinion, CFE is like a Bachelor of Franchising degree.
“It’s a 1-2 year course which requires participation in various ongoing education activities, but experienced franchising people can generally complete it in one year. The last step is to sit an online examination which includes 20 questions on the Australian Franchising Code of Conduct – which has nothing to do with New Zealand.”
‘Sadly, there is no undergraduate degree for franchising in New Zealand and the University of Auckland has not taught the subject for a number of years – the last time franchising was taught as a dedicated subject at tertiary level was at Unitec almost 20 years ago.
“But I have been invited to be the lecturer in franchise law at AUT law school in 2020 which will be quite a lot of hard work but very exciting. I hope to help bring understanding and enthusiasm for franchising to the next generation.”
