HAVING won a global award from KFC as its best franchise partner, local businessman Gerard Nicholas is celebrating a major milestone with a special commendation for half a century of working with the restaurant giant.

Gerard, who runs NNA Ltd with his wife Martina from Gloucester and live in Longhope, has built up a prime portfolio of KFC franchise restaurants across the region including the Ross Park restaurant established back in 2008.

Collectively, NNA now provides roles for 340 staff across its network, while the upcoming Coleford and Stroud restaurants are projected to create 65 extra jobs.

Speaking at the official awards ceremony, Rob Swain, KFC UK and Ireland General Manager, said NNA “perfectly represent the growth, ambition and energy that our franchisees bring to KFC”.

Praising Gerard and Martina as “entrepreneurs who bring the brand to life,” Mr Swain said KFC was “incredibly proud of the impact they have made and of our long-term partnership with them.

“What makes this achievement even more impressive is that it has not been delivered in one of the UK’s major cities. You are top of the scorecards because you have invested in the system over many years, built capability and brought people along with you.”

Gerard, who began his career working in a KFC in London in 1975 and moved to Cheltenham in 1982 to open his first KFC, on the town’s High Street.

“Looking back, maybe the best measure of the work has been the long-term relationships both with staff, who have started at the bottom and worked their way up and with the customers – we now meet the grandchildren of the young people who we first served back then,” said Gerard.

Gerard said that a steady approach to business was baked into NNA’s approach: "By building carefully, the rest have all followed from those early days, always investing in the business and the people as we went along,” he added.