Mr Rental has been named the 2010 Established Franchisor of the Year at the industry’s Excellence in Franchising awards event.

Co-founder Glen Hickman told the audience at the Marriott Hotel Surfers Paradise “It’s taken us 20 years to get here, 10 years developing the business model, and 10 years franchising. And we did it with a fantastic team.”

The rental franchise now has 77 stores across Australia and New Zealand, plans to open a further 13 within the next 12 months and is looking to expand further overseas.

General manager Alan Payne said winning the award was the peak of his professional career. “It’s a great business model and an exceptional culture.”

He went on to praise the Mr Rental franchisees for dealing with the demands of high performance and best practice that made the franchise system a success. “I knew we were going to win it,” he added.

Snap On, the mobile retail franchise, was awarded a Merit in the Established Franchisor category.

The Emerging Franchisor of the Year award went for the second year running to burger franchise, Grill’d. Accepting the award, founder Simon Crowe said “We do things a little bit differently. Our culture is paramount, and that’s what has built our success. It’s our people and what we do in our restaurants.”

He also took time to acknowledge the benefits of membership of the Franchise Council of Australia and the network opportunities it offers.

Pizza franchise chain Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars was given a Merit award for Emerging Franchisor.

Read about franchisee awards here and for more franchisor awards click here.