The award comes hot on the heels of news
that the owner of Worldwide's Spring Hill and Rowes Arcade Centres in Queensland was voted 2007 National Franchisee of the
Year by the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA).

Worldwide's growth performance emerged
from BRW Magazine's latest annual Top 50 Fast Franchises study, which was
published in February. The $60m Perth-based group also scooped top honours in
the publication's 2004, 2005 and 2006 growth surveys.

Mark Manderson, CEO of Worldwide says: "We
knew we'd had a great year, but it's always tremendously thrilling when all our
efforts to bring so many talented entrepreneurs into the system are recognised
independently. It's great for them – and a real pat on the back for our
national team and state support offices around the country."

This year's Top 50 league table includes
several new franchise groups as well as the more established ones like
Worldwide, which has been operating for more than a decade.

"We were the first print communications
group in Australia to introduce a 'hub and spoke' production
model, and invested around $4m last year to further develop our production and
technology capabilities," added Manderson. "It means Worldwide's franchisees
can focus on sales, marketing and business development instead of getting
bogged down with the intricacies of managing printing presses. Our investment
is clearly paying dividends."

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