Charlie Dickson, Franchise Consultant with Ashtons Franchise Consulting, is celebrating an impressive milestone – 45 years in the franchise industry.

His career has spanned roles as a franchisee, franchisor, and now trusted consultant to businesses of all sizes exploring franchising as a growth strategy.

Charlie’s journey began shortly after graduating in Economics, when he was awarded an Esso franchise, aged only 21, for a newly built service station on the A1 in Edinburgh. Over the following 18 years, he helped pioneer c-store development. He expanded his business to three service stations with retail convenience stores, generating a turnover of £14m per annum. The operations gained recognition for retail innovation, sales performance and customer service.

Reflecting on this early chapter, Charlie said: “I remain deeply thankful to the to the brilliant teams who helped create and maintain an award-winning business.”

His career took a new direction after completing an MBA at the University of Edinburgh, which led to senior roles with franchisors across several sectors. These included positions as Regional Franchise Manager at Venture Photography, Managing Director at Farmer Autocare, and Director of Franchise & Network Development at Blackcircles.com.

“Each role presented fresh challenges, opportunities for personal development, and openings to add value by delivering brand expansion, revenue growth, and profit growth,” Charlie explained. “It’s been a genuine privilege to work with ambitious entrepreneurial clients.  To advise, support evaluate, develop, and launch franchise systems to market..”

At Blackcircles.com, a Michelin subsidiary, Charlie was responsible for designing and developing the company’s franchising strategy. Under his leadership, the franchise network grew from inception to more than 1,500 partners in just six years. This created a high-quality national network and a significant profit centre for the business.

Ashtons Franchise Consulting

Since 2017, Charlie has been applying his extensive experience in his role as Franchise Consultant at Ashtons. He works with clients ranging from SMEs to global brands, guiding them in evaluating, developing, and launching franchise systems.

“Supporting businesses to scale through franchising has been immensely rewarding,” he said.

Looking back on his career, Charlie remains optimistic about the opportunities franchising presents. “I am extremely proud of the achievements and memorable moments over the past 45 years. Franchising continues to be a powerful growth strategy, as dynamic and full of energy and opportunity today as ever. I look forward to continuing my journey – learning, sharing, and supporting businesses to grow strategically through franchising.”

Charlie is passionate about sharing his franchising knowledge. To learn how he can help your business grow, contact him via our website enquiry form.