Rafiq Bhamani

Experience at a glance

How Rafiq can help

• Preparing and positioning hospitality and franchise businesses: helping get them ready for market.

• Negotiation, due diligence and financing: guiding vendors through each stage of the sale process.

• Landlord and lease complications: helping resolve issues that could otherwise delay or derail a transaction.

• Connecting with active buyers: drawing on a strong network in the franchise and hospitality market.

• Managing the transition: supporting owner-operators through a smooth, well-managed handover.

• Hands-on availability: providing round-the-clock support throughout the sale process.

Industry and business type experience

Experience and approach

Before joining LINK, Rafiq spent 15 years in warehouse and store management, followed by 8 years as a director and operations manager for food franchise businesses. His move into hospitality ownership, running franchises including Habitual Fix and Mozaik Café, gave him direct experience of buying, running and selling a business.

That experience shapes how he works with vendors today. Having been through the process himself, Rafiq combines financial and operational insight with a practical understanding of what a hospitality or franchise sale involves, from negotiation through to settlement.

Transaction experience

Rafiq has 120+ completed sales behind him, ranging from small owner-operator businesses through to larger enterprises, with a combined transaction value of $35 million and counting. The large majority of his sales are in food, hospitality and franchise businesses.

Highlights include guiding Sushant Nagar through the purchase of Source Café, resolving a landlord consent issue that could have stalled the sale, and helping first-time hospitality buyers Jeelie and Chris Christopher secure Percy Café near Auckland Airport, working alongside Nick Giles, LINK's Head of Hospitality New Zealand.

Buyer pool and network

Rafiq has sold businesses right across New Zealand, from Auckland through to Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury, Northland, Southland and Otago, giving vendors access to a national pool of engaged buyers in the hospitality and franchise industry.

He regularly works alongside Nick Giles, LINK's Head of Hospitality New Zealand, the pair combining two owner-operators' worth of hospitality experience to match vendors with the right buyers.

Recognition and achievements

• LINK Chairman's Club — four-time chevron recipient (2020–2025)

• 2025/26 LINK Top Lister of the Year, New Zealand — #2

• 2025/26 LINK Top Marketer of the Year, New Zealand — #2

• 2025/26 LINK High Five Listings Broker, New Zealand — #3

• 2023–2024 LINK Ellerslie Broker of the Year — #1

• 2021 LINK Ellerslie Broker of the Year — #1

• 2018 LINK Rising Star Award, International — #1

About Rafiq

Rafiq holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Mumbai, specialising in Business Management, and is based in Auckland. He brings a hands-on, cross-cultural perspective to business broking, shaped by years spent building and running his own hospitality and franchise businesses. Having personally experienced buying, operating and selling a business, he understands first-hand what vendors and purchasers go through, and works to make that process as smooth as possible for both sides.