The Irish Franchise Association has named the finalists for this year's Franchise Awards.

The Irish Franchise Awards recognise excellence in franchising and reward outstanding achievements of businesses and individuals in the franchise industry.

The awards categories represent both retail and service industries. Finalists include: Hillbilly's Fried Chicken, Funky Monkey's, The Zipyard, Boston Brand Bars, Fastway Couriers, FitKids, Motivation Weight Management Clinics, Snap Printing, Home Instead, Car Medic, Cartridge Green, CeX, Stockwatch, Chemdry and BCM.

Orna Stokes, Senior Manager, SME Strategy at Ulster Bank and one of the award judges, said: "Ulster Bank would like to congratulate all of the nominees. This year's shortlist is an impressive array of businesses who are finding success using the franchise model. It is our job at Ulster Bank to provide solid guidance, appropriate financial support and a robust service to our business customers, including franchisors and franchise owners, to help them take advantage of the opportunities that are out there, whether at home or abroad. The Expo provides us with a great opportunity to support the start-up and franchising sector and the awards recognise and reward outstanding entrepreneurs in Irish franchising."

The awards will be presented at a formal black-tie awards ceremony at the RDS on Friday April 27 2012. The ceremony is anticipated to be an impressive business event reflecting the remarkable growth of the franchise sector in these challenging times. According to the latest Irish Franchise Association survey, there has been a marked increase in turnover for the sector to €2.4 billion representing an increase of 15 per cent since the last survey in 2006. In total the Irish franchise industry contributes 4,086 operating units on the island of Ireland and offers 42,927 full-time jobs to the economy.

David Killeen, Chairman of the Irish Franchise Association, said: "We are delighted to provide a platform for the franchise sector to professionally present the excellent business opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs looking to establish themselves in their own business through franchising. The awards are an opportunity for us to formally acknowledge the excellent work being done by all franchise practitioners in growing the sector, consolidating existing business and protecting sustainable jobs despite the difficult trading conditions we currently face. The minimal level of business failures recorded to date in the franchise sector is testament to the robustness of the franchise model and we sincerely thank Ulster Bank for their continued support and commitment to our sector."

The finalists are:

Franchise of the Year (Retail): Hillbilly's Fried Chicken, Funky Monkeys, Zipyard, Boston Brand Bars

Franchise of the Year (Service): Fastway Couriers, Cartridge Green, FitKids, Motivation Weight Management Clinics

Franchisee of the Year (Retail): Boston Brand Bars (Wexford), Hillbilly's Fried Chicken (Cork), Snap (Sandyford) and Snap (Mullingar)

Franchisee of the Year (Service): Home Instead, Motivation Weight Management Clinics (Tralee, Killarney and Ennis) and Car Medic (North Dublin)

Best Emerging Franchise (Retail): Hillbilly's Fried Chicken, Funky Monkeys and Boston Brand Bars

Best Emerging Franchise (Service): FitKids, Cartridge Green and Car Medic

Best Newcomer: CEX, FitKids, Funky Monkeys and StockWATCH

Best Indigenous Irish Franchise: Motivation Weight Management Clinics, The Zipyard, Hillbilly's Fried Chicken, FitKids, BCM, Funky Monkeys, StockWATCH and Cartridge Green.

Best Franchise System and Business Practice: Fastway Couriers, FitKids and Chem-dry

Best Women in Franchising: The Zipyard (Caroline Wallace), Boston Brand Bars (Sarah Miller) and Home Instead (Danette Connolly)

Outstanding Growth Award: BCM, Motivation Weight Management Clinics, The Zipyard and SnapLimerick

Most Innovative Marketing Award: Car Medic, CEX and Cartridge Green.