UK franchise opportunities are on a rising trend. This business strategy is increasingly gaining popularity. Recent studies indicate that last year the franchise industry was a major contributor to the UK economy. In the year 2009, UK franchise opportunities contributed about £5 billion, last year this figure doubled and the proceeds gotten from franchises totaled up to 12.4 billion. If these figures are anything to go by, there is a clear indication that UK franchise opportunities are a significant earner in this country. Franchising is basically an agreement where one company gives rights to another company to sells their goods or services. As a business owner in UK you may be wondering on how to go about franchising. Franchise agreements are different, however; franchising can be summed up into five categories. You may choose the type of franchise you want depending on your products and services. In a manufacturing franchise agreement the franchisor sells manufacturing rights to the franchisee, after manufacturing, the franchisee will sell the products under the franchisers trade name. Such agreements are commonly used in industries that deal with food and beverages. The franchiser gets paid an initial fee and may also receive a certain percentage of the total sales. When it comes to a business franchise venture, the franchiser buys products and distributes them on behalf of the franchiser. A common example of this type of franchisee is vending machines that are located in public places. The franchisee purchases the machine from the franchiser and then submits an agreed percentage of the total proceeds. In a product franchise, the franchisee operates under the franchiser’s trade name. The franchisee can now sell products in the franchisors name which is commonly a well known and respected trade or brand name. The franchisee may either opt to pay a fee to the franchisee or buy a given amount of goods that will settle the fee. The business format franchise is a more detailed form of franchise. The agreement allows the franchisee to purchase the franchisers trade name and even business processes. The franchiser commits to training the workers of the franchisee till they learn the strategies and methods of operation used by the franchiser. There are other more detailed forms of franchises but these are the basic ones. The trend in UK franchise opportunities is promising and is projected to keep rising in the coming years.