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TAKING IT FROM THE TOP: SeniorWomen at the Forefront of Franchising The British Franchise Association ascertains what’s in store for women in franchising by talking to those who know best ccording to a recent study by Durham University Business School, it has been revealed that female CEOs issue less company debt than male CEOs because women are often more risk averse than their male counterparts and therefore less likely to get the company into financial difficulty. The study also revealed that the younger the CEO the more pronounced the findings, with younger female CEOs very conservative in their debt issuing, in contrast to young male CEOs who are more likely to rack up arrears. Is this one of the reasons women are so successful in the UK franchise industry, are they considered a safer, more reliable pair of hands? With this new information fresh in our minds, and the winds of change blowing through the UK franchise industry, we spoke to three highly successful female franchising CEOs about life at the top, their career paths to their current roles, their views on challenges and opportunities for women in the sector, and their advice for younger women climbing the career ladder in the world of business format franchising. TERRY MULLEN, CEO, REVIVE! AUTO INNOVATIONS While co-founding a car repairs franchise might not strike one as an obvious choice for a woman, Terry Mullen, managing director (finance and operations) of Revive! UK is a very successful, well-known name and face in the UK franchise industry. Terry began her career at NatWest as a small business manager where she first encountered business format franchising. During her 21 years with the high street bank she supported a client, Mark Llewellyn, who went on to offer her a position as a franchise recruitment manager. Subsequently, in July 2004, she and Mark set up Revive! which they still run together to this day. Terry recalls: “Those were exciting but scary times. I was a single mum of two young children when I remortgaged my house to raise the capital to set up A Terry Mullen, CEO at Revive! UK BEHIND THE BRAND: PARTNER CONTENT 68 WHAT FRANCHISE | ISSUE 19.3