Bendeta is a chartered accountant and one of the early pioneers of franchise consulting in South Africa. She set up the franchise division at Kessel Feinstein Consulting, heading it as a Director for 4 years. She was awarded the Franchise Personality of the Year in 1996. Bendeta initiated The Franchise Factor, which is the only formal research statistics on franchising in South Africa. Bendeta achieved one of her goals by opening her own company Parker Gordon Associates, a franchise consultancy, at the age of 29. She is regularly called upon by both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Competitions Tribunal to provide expertise and assist with the development of the franchise sector within South Africa. Bendeta sat on the Franchise Association of South Africa’s board for the selection of franchisors to FASA.

Brenda is involved in the training of Franchisors and Franchisees. She has received extensive experience in retail and franchise management working for Pleasure Foods for 7 years, in various capacities, including National Operations Manager. She moved to the UK, where she enjoyed 5 years with PepsiCo UK, on their Pizza Hut brand as an Area Manager. Back in South Africa, she worked for BP SA as Franchise Training Manager, after which she joined Parker Gordon Associates, which became Franchize Directions. She was awarded the Franchise Personality of the Year in 2000. Brenda has served on the executive committee of FASA for 6 years and served as Chairman of the executive committee of FASA, (Franchise Association of Southern Africa) from March 2005 to March 2007.

Elana has been involved in franchising since the inception of Franchize Directions as Parker Gordon Associates., and she is one of the longest standing and most well respected franchise consultants in the country. She has specialised in the development of franchising initiatives of a wide array of companies including: Kitchen Wise Designs, Glomail, PG Autoglass, Formica and Pick ‘n Pay. She is the founder of the well patronised franchisor networking forum which is sponsored by Standard Bank. Prior to her involvement in franchising, she was employed by Standard Bank. Elana holds a B Comm (Honours - Marketing).

Norma has a background in administration skills and joined Franchize Directions as Special Projects and Administration Co-ordinator in May 2007. Her initial primary task was to update the existing database for the franchising industry. Norma co-ordinates all the seminars, networking breakfasts and other functions that are initiated by Franchize Directions. She also facilitates and deals with all the enquiries received.

Norma has previously been involved in secretarial work for a bank and ran a department in a telecommunication company for 10 years. She also owned a small business for two years prior to joining Franchize Directions.

Lindy Barbour (nee Bootes) is the Managing Director of the company. She joined Franchize Directions in February 2001 as a Support Consultant on the franchise development team. In November of the same year she took over the marketing portfolio of the company and  in January 2002 was promoted to an independent franchise consultant. In 2004  Lindy was appointed  head of the consulting division. Lindy has been involved in the development of a number of successful franchisors and has been instrumental in their expansion strategies. At the same time Lindy became a partner at Franchize Directions. In September 2006 the board appointed Lindy as the Managing Director of the company. Lindy continues to operate as a lead consultant as her passion remains the development of sound, sustainable South African franchisors. She is a nominated FASA (Franchise Association of South Africa) council member and also serves on the FASA membership committee. Lindy completed her Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the University of Natal, Durban with majors in Marketing and Management.

Nicola is a consultant for franchisor development and specialises in all the related package elements. She also assists in training franchisors in the general principles of franchising and the critical success factors in franchising. Nicola completed a Bachelor of Arts as well as an HDE diploma at the University of the Witwatersrand. She spent three years teaching English and History, and then spent a further 5 years in Quality Assurance in the pharmaceutical industry before joining Franchize Directions in 2006.

Franchize Directions outsource a number of specialised areas of business to professionals with whom close alliances have been forged. These include Marketing Strategists, Geographical Information System Specialists, Legal Experts and Industrial Relations Experts to name a few. Clients are however welcome and invited to request specific outsourced support where suggested, if a preferential alternative is available.