Joe & The Juice appoints Thomas Nørøxe as new chief executive: Denmark-based smoothie and juice chain Joe & The Juice, which operates over 300 sites across 16 countries, has appointed Thomas Nørøxe as its new chief executive. Nørøxe, who has been brand’s chief of staff for the past year and a half, replaces Sebastian Vestergaard, who has been with the company since 2004, including over 11 years as its chief financial officer and the past two and a half as chief executive. Vestergaard said: “During the past month, I have had a constructive dialogue with the board of Joe & The Juice. This dialogue has led to the conclusion that I will step down as chief executive to continue in a new role focusing on business development. Thomas Nørøxe will take over the chief executive position. I have the utmost respect for Thomas. Joe & The Juice has been my entire life for almost 17 years, and I’m proud of the results that I’ve created in collaboration with the entire organization throughout the years. I want to thank the entire Joe team and not least Founder and Chairman Kaspar Basse, who spotted me 17 years ago. Now I look forward to being part of the next big step in the never-ending Joe-journey.” Nørøxe, who was previously a partner at Swedish private equity fund Valedo Partners, said: “As of today, I have accepted the position as chief executive of Joe & The Juice. I am very happy and honoured. It is a task that I will take on with deep respect and gratitude, and I will first and foremost thank Sebastian Vestergaard for his hard work. Not least under the extremely difficult and challenging times under covid-19 when Sebastian, together with the Joe team, laid the tracks for the next big steps for Joe & The Juice. Joe & The Juice is facing an ambitious international expansion that I am excited to take on together with the entire Joe family. Also, a big thanks to founder and chairman Kaspar Basse. I really look forward to working closely together with him.” Basse said: “Thomas Nørøxe has a proven track record in both investment banking and private equity, and he has experience from the management team in Joe & The Juice. This, together with his sincere respect and deep understanding of the unique culture of Joe, is what we need right now. Especially in the aftermath of covid-19 where we have a unique opportunity to expand our business considerably.” The company currently operates circa 50 sites in the UK, including about 40 in the capital. It recently opened sites in Kingston and Brighton, and secured the former Caffe Nero on the corner of Lower James Street, Soho, for an opening later this year.
Food-led businesses specialising in far east Asian cuisine making impact on updated Premium database of multi-site companies: Food-led business that specialise in serving far east Asian cuisine are making an impact on the Propel Premium database of multi-site companies, which will be released on Wednesday (30 June), at midday. Another 63 businesses will be added to the most comprehensive multi-site database in the sector, including Glasgow-based south east Asian restaurant concept
Ka Pao, which is from the team behind the awarding-winning Ox & Finch restaurant. Its first site is in Botanic Gardens Garage, Vinicombe Street, and it will open a second site in the autumn at Edinburgh’s St James scheme in St James Quarter.
Takumi is a Birmingham-based Japanese restaurant concept that operates a site in Birmingham’s Chinatown. It is set to open a second site in Old Compton Street, Soho, London, in September.
Bon Pan Asian is a buffet restaurant brand that runs three sites, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent; Liverpool; and Brierley Hill. This month, it announced it was to open Blue Whale Oriental supermarket at Manchester’s St James’s Tower building that will house a 60-cover sushi restaurant counter under the name Aka Sushi. Available only to subscribers, the exhaustive database was most recently sent at the end of May and included the details of 1,819 companies. The go-to database provides company names, the people in charge, how many sites each firm operates, its trading name and its registered name at Companies House if different, and what each business specialises in. In a new feature this year, there is a synopsis of what the business does and significant news associated with it. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The regular single subscription rate of £395 plus VAT for operators and £495 plus VAT for suppliers remains the same. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of lockdown videos and Friday Wrap interviews and now also have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel insights editor Mark Wingett. In this week’s column, which will be sent to subscribers on Friday (25 June) at 5pm, Jasper Reid, the founder of IMM, which advises brands on international expansion and owns the Wendy’s and Jamie Oliver restaurant chains in India, looks at the growth of the delivery kitchen sector in India and especially the success of Rebel Foods. Meanwhile, Mark Wingett looks at the latest news from McDonald’s and Itsu.
Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to sign up.
Wolfpack opens third pub in London: Wolfpack Lager, the business founded by ex-rugby union professionals Alistair Hargreaves and Chris Wyles, has opened its third pub in the capital. The company has taken the former Malt House site in Fulham, which has six rooms – making it Wolfpack’s first pub to have accommodation. The pub was acquired in an off-market deal from the Jolly Fine Pub Co. Wolfpack acquired the lease from Jolly Fine and simultaneously took a new lease from Brakspear. The company operates Wolfpack sites in Queens Park and West Hampstead. As well as plans to open more Wolfpack bars across the city, Hargreaves and Wyles, who founded the business in 2014, hope their bottles and cans will be stocked by major supermarkets in the near future. Adam Bowers, of newly founded leisure acquisition agency onepoint2, acted for Wolfpack on the Fulham deal. The disposal leaves Jolly Fine Pub Co operating the Victoria in East Sheen and the Fox & Grapes in Wimbledon.
Kaleidoscope Collection adds third hotel to portfolio: Bath-based boutique hotelier company Kaleidoscope Collection, has bought a third hotel to add to its burgeoning portfolio. With a purchase price in the region of £5.5 million, handled by Matthew Smith, Partner in the Knight Frank Hotels team, Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa in Wiltshire will join the Kaleidoscope stable of eclectic and eccentric hotels, which also includes Homewood and The Bird, both of which are in Bath. The 19th century, 32-bedroom historic country house and spa is set within 27 acres of Wiltshire countryside and is being positioned as a destination hotel on account of its proximity to Longleat, Stonehenge and the Salisbury Plains to the south, and the Roman city of Bath to the north. Ian and Christa Taylor, owners of Kaleidoscope Collection, said: “The hospitality sector has arguably been hit harder than any other both within the local and national economy. But it has the potential to bounce back stronger than ever before. We understand that there was significant interest in Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa from investors both in terms of its heritage and a spike in the staycation market as a direct consequence of the pandemic.”
Scarborough Group International launches new concept as it opens fourth Hong Kong site: Yorkshire-based operator Scarborough Group International has opened its fourth Hong Kong restaurant. The company has launched Café Library within New Town Plaza, a shopping mall in the town centre of Sha Tin. Café Library adds to the group’s Espuma chain of coffee houses and restaurants across Hong Kong and China, which it launched in 2014. Peter Ko, finance director at Scarborough Group International’s Hong Kong office, said: “Café Library is our fourth restaurant in Hong Kong and, while we wanted to grow the Espuma brand, we were also keen to provide a fresh, but complimentary, offering. Café Library is a reflection of how happiness comes from truly enjoying life; something we’ve all become extremely grateful for over the past 18 months. Despite having more than seven years’ experience in running multiple successful restaurants, opening a food and beverage outlet in the middle of a pandemic could be seen as somewhat of a risky move but the response so far has been absolutely phenomenal.”
