Board of Directors

Brendan Green

FCA Chairman

Brendan Green has been the CEO of Australia’s largest handyman business, Hire A Hubby, for over 22 years. Hire A Hubby provides handyman, home maintenance and trades work services for individuals and companies throughout Australia, New Zealand the UK. Starting with one franchise In 1996, Hire A Hubby now has 335 franchisees across Australia, 50 in New Zealand and 10 in the UK. Launching his own lawn mowing business when he was just 19, growing Hire A Hubby substantially since 1999 and recently launching a new business, Franchise Cloud Solutions, Brendan is a natural entrepreneur.

Brendan was recently accredited as a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) with the Franchise Council of Australia. The CFE program is the only internationally recognised professional accreditation program for franchise executives.

In his free time, Brendan enjoys motorsports and spending time with his family.

Stephen Giles

Director

Stephen is a partner with Norton Rose Fulbright. He has been a member of the Franchise Council of Australia almost since its inception, was founding secretary and is a former President of the Victorian Chapter, served as chairman of the FCA in 1998 and from 2000 – 2007, and has been a national director of the FCA since 1997. He has written numerous publications on franchising and competition and consumer law, including the authoritative text Franchising Law & Practice, and is a regular speaker at conferences in Australia, Asia and the US. In 2009 he was inducted into the Australian Franchising Hall of Fame, and was ranked in the top 10 most respected international franchise lawyers by the International Who’s Who of Franchise Lawyers.

Craig Cawood

Director

Throughout the majority of Craig’s legal career he has been an in-house lawyer within franchise businesses. He is a passionate and engaged member of the franchising industry in Australia with over 20 years of commercial legal experience. He began his legal career at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and then Baker & McKenzie in Sydney. Craig then moved in-house and started working in the franchising sector in 2004, first as General Counsel for Yum Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell) in Australia and then based out of Singapore supporting its franchise business in Asia. Middle East and Africa.

Craig is currently Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Franchise Relationship Officer for McDonald’s Australia. McDonald’s has almost 1000 restaurant across Australia and 240 franchisees which operate almost 85% of its restaurants. McDonald’s has a long and successful history in franchising in Australia.

Daniel Mesiti

Director

From NSW, Daniel is a dynamic and driven business owner and leader, who has been self-employed for over 20 years both independently, and as a franchisee.

Successfully transitioning to franchising with Boost Juice 15 years ago, Daniel became an award-winning franchisee partner, owning up to 7 stores across 3 Retail Zoo brands, at any one time. He has 10 years’ experience as a Retail Consultant working with a number of brands including: IGA, Mitre 10, Cheesecake Shop, BioGuard and Swimart.

Daniel’s consultancy and subsequent business coaching was delivered predominantly through Performance Group Workshops where he analysed all aspects of their business operations for improvement and profit.

Daniel has won the highest ranked awards within the Retail Zoo Brands and awarded the FCA’s NSW/ACT Multi Unit Franchisee of the Year in 2010 and 2013, and was named the FCA’s National Multi Unit Franchisee of the Year in 2016.

Daniel has always believed in continuous improvement and life-long learning. Daniel has spent many years representing franchisees within his network and is passionate and committed to supporting small business and franchising.

Tim Horbury

Director
SA State President

Tim Horbury is franchise owner of The Alternative Board –  Adelaide City Territory, with experience within the franchise sector in state leadership roles. Tim has vast experience in retailing, working for recognised brands such as Specsavers and Beaumont Tiles. In Adelaide, Tim gained senior experience in retail businesses such as Haris Scarfe, Trims, and launched the Rays Outdoors brand in Adelaide. Tim also ran his own business in the hospitality sector. Tim’s 25 plus years career has included leadership roles in a range of large corporate to small family businesses. The franchising sector is where Tim discovered the value he brings to small business ownership, with skills honed over the years and a key focus on marketing and people. Within the FCA, Tim has been a valued member of the FCA’s Franchisee Advisory Committee and South Australian State Chapter Committee.

Selina Bridge

Director

Selina Bridge is an accomplished leader in the health and fitness industry with a proven track record in marketing and relationship management. After achieving a First Class Honours degree in Business Administration from the University of Bath in 2003, her career began in the UK with experiences at Motorola and Puma, to a key role at one of London’s leading sports marketing agencies – Brand Rapport, managing the strategic partnership between Vodafone and the England Cricket Team.

With a globally-driven career in marketing for international brands including BMW and Shell, Selina brings a strong skillset in managing brand reputation. In 2014, she renewed her passion for health and fitness as marketing manager, then general manager, for Curves Oceania. This is when her passion for franchising really developed. KX Pilates founder Aaron Smith appointed her as CEO in 2018.

Despite the challenges COVID has thrown upon the fitness industry, Selina has successfully grown the KX network from 50 studios and is on track to reach 100 in 2022. Selina has also led KX’s international expansion with Master Franchise partnerships now in Jakarta and New Zealand as well as a Joint Venture in China. Further expansion is on the cards as part of the company’s 5-year vision.

Maria Kovacic

Director

Maria has worked across the commercial, public and not for profit sectors and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, with a particular expertise in franchising, governance and finance, extending to community services, sports development, and the professional services industries.

Maria has been an ANZ Mobile Lending Franchise owner for more than 14 years joining as a foundation member of the network. She served two consecutive terms on the ANZ Bank Franchise Council between 2008-2011 and was re-elected for a further two-year term in July 2019. Maria was part of the ANZ Franchise Commission Structure Review Working Group, established as a result of regulatory review of mortgage commissions in line with requirements and recommendations of the ASIC Review of Mortgage Broker Remuneration, Retail Banking Remuneration Review (Sedgewick Report), Combined Industry Forum (CIF), and The Royal Commission into the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Maria is the Chair of Hills Community Aid and an inaugural member of the Steering Committee of Women@Eels, established by the Parramatta Eels NRL Club to assist the organisation with social inclusion, community, and female engagement. She was also co-founder of Western Sydney Women and Western Sydney Executive Women, promoting opportunities and advocating for women of all ages and backgrounds. Maria previously sat on the Board of Form Dance Projects and The Victor Chang Committee for Western Sydney.

Tanya Robertson

Director
VIC/TAS State President

A proven senior operational executive with over 25 year’s extensive experience in both Corporate and Franchising sectors. Tanya has worked with some of Australia’s best known franchise and retail brands, across a broad range of industries including pharmacy, convenience, QSR, bulky goods, fashion retail and beauty.

Tanya has worked for relatively small franchisors trying to grow to critical mass to ensure ongoing success; and large established franchisors working to remain innovative and responsive to their franchisees and customers.

Tanya has been an active elected member of the Franchise Council of Australia Victorian Chapter for over 10 years being the vice-president for 6 of those years, now serving as President. Alongside being a past judge of the FCA awards, Tanya has recently received her CFE accreditation, the only internationally recognised professional accreditation program for franchise executives.

Richard Thame

Director
NSW / ACT State Chapter President

Richard is the CEO of Snap Franchising Pty Ltd, Australia’s largest franchised print and design franchise and a founding member of the FCA. Over the last twenty years Richard has held leadership roles in a variety of franchise systems including; McDonalds, Thrifty and Fastway Couriers. In his role as group Managing Director at Fastway, Richard had responsibility for franchise organisations in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa. This gave him the opportunity to meet with franchisors and franchisees in many diverse markets. Richard has played an active role in the franchise community and currently serves as the NSW Convenor of the FCA Chief Executive Syndicate, and in 2017 successfully completed the CFE program. Richard believes the FCA has a crucial role in contributing to the policy debate, structure, education and reform of the franchising sector at this critical time.

Warren Ballantyne

Director
QLD / NT State Chapter President

Warren Ballantyne is the founder, owner and managing director of Gutter-Vac – the world’s first and largest gutter cleaning franchise, revolutionising the gutter cleaning industry.

Warren invented and developed the gutter vacuuming technology in 1995 and commenced franchising in 2000. Gutter-Vac now has around 90 franchises across all Australian States and Territories and has expanding its franchise system into North America (launch was July 2016).

Warren is also the founder, owner and managing director of Ballantyne Safety – a height safety concept that was created by Warren in 1995 to compliment the Gutter-Vac operating system.  Ballantyne Safety’s range of temporary roof safety equipment provides workers across Australia with a fast and effective method to safely work at heights.

Warren is also the chairman of Gutter-Vac International Pty Ltd and the Chief Operating Officer of Gutter-Vac LLC (the North American franchise company).

Warren has enjoyed serving on FCA’s Queensland State Chapter for 9 years and has been President of the Queensland chapter

Amber Manning

Director

Amber Manning is CEO of Just Cuts, the largest hairdressing franchise in the Southern Hemisphere. Her career began as the youngest financial services franchisee in Australia at just 20 years old. She has led NSW Telstra Franchise and Dealer channels, advised the Harvey Norman Steering Committee and developed global strategic capabilities through her involvement with KPMG and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Today she leads the AUS, NZ and UK markets for Just Cuts, holds her CFE and is a member of the CFE syndicate group for the Franchise Council of Australia. Amber also owns seven Just Cuts salons with her partner, proving her belief in the brand from end to end and her ability to walk the talk.