Setting Franchise Pricing Policies in Ireland Before Launch

When you own every outlet, setting one customer price across the business can feel straightforward. Franchising changes that relationship: franchisees operate independent businesses, not branches under your direct management. Before welcoming people into your franchise community, decide how pricing recommendations, promotions and shared technology will work without unlawfully restricting their freedom to set resale prices. This guide concerns the Republic of Ireland.

Understand the legal boundary on customer prices

Ireland has no franchise-specific legislation, statutory franchise disclosure regime or franchise agreement registration requirement. General contract, competition, intellectual property and consumer protection laws apply instead. The Irish Franchise Association’s Code of Ethics applies to its members; it is not a substitute for legislation.

For customer pricing, the central rules include section 4 of the Competition Act 2002, as amended, and, where trade between EU Member States may be affected, Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2022/720, also provides an important framework for assessing vertical agreements.

Fixed or minimum resale prices are generally prohibited. This restriction is commonly called resale price maintenance, or RPM. It can arise through informal pressure as well as an express clause in a franchise agreement.

Recommended prices and maximum prices can be permissible, provided pressure or incentives do not turn them into fixed or minimum prices. They are not automatically lawful in every arrangement: obtain competition law advice on the complete policy, rather than treating a label such as “recommended” as sufficient protection.

Separate brand standards from pricing decisions

Start by listing every point at which your existing business controls customer prices. Include menus, quotations, booking platforms, till systems, promotional emails, loyalty offers and conversations with managers.

Then distinguish between presentation requirements and the commercial decision itself. You may need consistent product descriptions, clear price displays and accurate customer information. Those objectives do not necessarily require identical prices at every independently operated location.

Create a responsibility sheet covering:

• Who prepares recommended prices and the assumptions behind them.
• Who decides the franchisee’s actual selling prices.
• How franchisees update their local prices in shared systems.
• Who checks that advertising matches the price a customer will pay.
• Who handles questions about proposed promotions or discounts.

For example, a service franchise might recommend a price for a standard appointment while allowing each franchisee to choose its own charge. The booking system should reflect that choice before the customer confirms the appointment.

Avoid asking franchisees to agree prices together. A discussion group intended for operational support should not become a forum for coordinating future pricing between independent businesses. Route concerns about pricing discussions to your legal adviser.

Check promotions, incentives and software together

A carefully drafted agreement offers little protection if everyday practice contradicts it. Review what your support team says, what your software permits and how your incentive arrangements work.

Potential warning signs include:

• Threatening to withdraw support because a franchisee discounts below a recommended price.
• Making rebates conditional on maintaining a particular resale price.
• Preventing franchisees from changing centrally loaded prices.
• Imposing minimum advertised prices that restrict their ability to communicate discounts.
• Pressuring one franchisee after another complains about its lower prices.

National promotions need particular care. Decide whether participation is optional, who funds the discount and how participating locations are identified. If you want a mandatory campaign at a specified price, obtain specialist advice before promising it to customers or franchisees. Do not assume that a short duration removes competition law concerns.

Test the technology with a realistic scenario: a franchisee wants to charge less than the recommended price for one service. Can it change the booking page, till and customer confirmation without seeking discretionary approval? If not, investigate whether the system is creating a restriction your written policy says does not exist.

Put the policy into practice before recruitment

Ask your solicitor to align the franchise agreement, pricing guidance and promotion procedures. Recruitment materials should describe the same arrangement; avoid promising complete pricing freedom if your operating model cannot deliver it.

Train staff who support franchisees to distinguish advice from pressure. They can explain the cost assumptions behind a recommendation without requiring adherence to it. Give them a clear escalation route for unfamiliar requests.

Finally, check customer-facing communications against applicable consumer protection rules, including the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and relevant price-display and price-reduction requirements. Shared branding must not leave customers uncertain about which locations offer an advertised deal.

Practical takeaway: Before launch, test one ordinary price change and one promotional offer from agreement to checkout. Confirm that legal wording, staff behaviour and software all preserve the pricing freedom your franchise model requires.