Budding entrepreneurs from all over Ireland attended the New Year – New Career exhibition held in Dublin last Saturday. Over 900 people paid to visit the event, which was held at The Burlington Hotel and featured a mixture of franchise, business and recruitment opportunities.

At the exhibition a number of franchisors reported that banks are willing to lend money to people looking to launch a franchise business. Professor Roy Seaman, co-founder and Managing Director of Franchise Development Services, stated that five franchisors he had spoken to have franchise owners who have secured loans from banks within the last two months.

According to Professor Seaman one of the reasons for this is that banks have taken notice of a survey An Assessment of the Irish Franchising Market in 2010, which was published by the Irish Franchise Association last year and revealed that the franchise industry in Ireland is continuing to enjoy strong growth.

Many of those at the New Year – New Career exhibition were looking for low cost franchise opportunities and for some the event was the first time that they had considered a franchise business as a way to secure a career.

The organiser of New Year – New Career, Otheroptions, is scheduled to hold another exhibition in Dublin this May.