First ONZM For Services To Franchise Law

This is the first time that a member of New Zealand’s franchise community has been specifically recognised for their services to the sector. The New Zealand Order of Merit was established in 1995 to acknowledge people who have given “service to the community or nation, [with] merit and achievement, in whatever field, going beyond the normal requirements of duty or office”. 

The prestigious recognition for Stewart Lloyd Germann (ONZM) comes a decade after Simon Lord, then publisher of Franchise New Zealand, first wrote an article lamenting New Zealand’s lack of recognition for the pioneers of what was already one of our largest business sectors.

Simon was delighted to learn of Stewart’s New Zealand Order of Merit award, saying that, “Stewart has a passion for franchising both as a way of developing small business skills among franchisees and enabling good business concepts to grow bigger through using the franchise model. Stewart has given freely of his time at seminars and conferences throughout the country to help people better understand how to build successful businesses. He has also represented New Zealand on the world stage at franchise events in the USA, Europe and Asia, and has stood up fearlessly when he believes that an injustice has occurred.

 “It would be fair to say that Stewart is one of the founding fathers of franchising in New Zealand, a sector which now exceeds $47.2 billion – equivalent to over 10% of GDP – with over 70% of the franchises operating here founded in New Zealand.”

Stewart Germann was one of the first lawyers in New Zealand to recognise franchising as a specialist area of legal work. He was a member of the previous Franchise Association of Australasia and from 1996, when the Franchise Association of New Zealand (FANZ) was formed, served on the Board for many years, including a stint as FANZ Chairman from 1997 to 1999. He was awarded Life Membership of FANZ in 2014, was the first New Zealand franchise practitioner to qualify as a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) in 2019, is currently President of the New Zealand Society of Notaries and earlier this year was appointed as an Honorary Member of the Notaries Society of England and Wales.

Stewart has been a longstanding contributor to Franchise New Zealand, providing independent articles, case studies and an invaluably experienced legal perspective on many issues in franchising that we have covered over the past three decades. Our heartfelt congratulations are extended to Stewart for this very well-deserved recognition of his services to franchise law, both here and across the globe.

A full list of the New Year 2026 Honours recipients can be found at https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-year-2026-honours-the-full-list-of-knights-dames-honourees/J7UOYYMDTRCSXA22HSKNXJGR7Y/