Charles Batt, owner of MBE Parramatta and MBE Ultimo, has been recognised at the 2025 Franchise Industry Awards, winning two accolades at the gala event held in Sydney.
Hosted by the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA), the 2025 Franchise Industry Awards brought together more than 500 industry professionals to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions across the Australian franchising sector.
Batt was awarded Multi Unit Franchisee of the Year and Multi Unit Franchisee of the Year (Services).
“Being recognised by the independent judging panel of the Franchise Council of Australia as the top Multi Unit Franchisee of the Yearin the Services category nationwide was unbelievably exciting and completely unexpected,” Batt told Sprinter.
“To then be named the overall Multi Unit Franchisee of the Year in Australia was truly overwhelming. There are so many excellent business operators in the franchise sector, particularly those that run multiple outlets, that simply being a finalist was a great honour,” he said.
“My team have such a fantastic attitude, and it shows in how they work with our customers. Winning awards like these is exciting because it is external validation that we are doing things right.”
The 2025 Franchise Industry Awards attracted a record number of entries across 23 categories, spanning leadership, sustainability, and innovation.
“Franchising contributes to the Australian economy in so many impactful ways; it is an enabler to entrepreneurship, success and small business, so it is only right that the industry recognises the talent, dedication and exceptional business that are a part of franchising,” said FCA CEO Jay Westbury.
“Franchising exists in almost every part of the Australian economy and the diversity of the finalists and winners of this year’s FIA is a testament to this. Franchising stopped for just a night to celebrate all that is good with peers and colleagues. We can’t wait to see who this event grows for FIA26.”
In an interview with Australian Printer magazine earlier this year for its annual Print Leaders Forum, Batt shared that the company’s catchphrase for 2025 is “speed, care, and quality.”
“Our customers increasingly want fast responses, whether that’s quotes, information, production or delivery. It’s easy to rush but that can be detrimental. We need to take enough time to make sure things are right – not just fast,” he said.
He added that advancements in technology will open new opportunities for the print industry.
“Printers adopting and promoting new solutions will flourish,” he said.
“Direct mail will evolve and grow. The ever-increasing postage costs kill basic direct mail but ensure that high quality direct mail items will get even more attention from those receiving them.
“As we saw last year, customers will increasingly demand faster turnaround times with exceptional quality, because that is becoming the new normal and printers will need to respond effectively to this new way of service.”
Batt also identified labels, signage, and embellishing as key growth areas businesses should focus on in 2025.
“These are all strong markets now and all have an enormous upside for businesses that have tapped into these areas of play,” he said.
“We find that short-run books and magazines are becoming more popular, too. People started writing more during the COVID lockdowns and are now finishing those projects or are moving to subsequent publications.
“In addition, web-to-print will become increasingly important for printers to attract new customers and to retain existing ones. As this technology develops, it will provide better solutions for our customers.
“2025 will also be the year that business in general works out what the ‘new normal’ is for their organisations. Whether it’s fully work-from-home, a set number of days per week in the office, hybrid working across home/serviced office/corporate office – the ‘new normal’ will be known. With that, we’ll be better placed to work out how to service our customers.”
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