Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Sethi – the international opportunity is real, expects March rent quarter to trigger site activity: Jyotin Sethi, co-founder of JKS Restaurants, has told Propel that the international expansion opportunity for the business is “real” and it has had early-stage conversations about launching its brands in Asia and the US. The business opened its first overseas site, in Qatar, at the start of November, just before the beginning of the football World Cup in the country. Sethi said the site, which opened under its Sri Lankan brand Hoppers in Doha, had started well, helped by the big football event. He said: “The international opportunity is real. We’re taking it seriously and looking at approaching it largely, initially on a licensing basis, but taking that decision by brand by brand, territory by territory. Our immediate focus is on the Middle East, but there are early-stage conversations on other parts of the world, Asia and the US. The most developed is the Middle East, so there will be a couple more of our brands that open up international locations in 2023.” In terms of expansion in the UK, Sethi said the company will “definitely be adding to the Boa and Hoppers portfolios this year”. Propel understands that the company is eyeing the former Sidechick site in James Street for the former concept, and an opening at Montacute Yards, in Shoreditch High Street for the latter. Propel revealed last year that the company planned to open a new venture in Mayfair, on the former Momo restaurant site, and Sethi said it was “still one of the things that we will look to open at the tail end of this year, with a concept to be decided”. In terms of securing new sites, Sethi said: “We’ve already got a pretty baked, developed and locked in 2023 pipeline, so for us, it’ll be looking at whether there is something opportunistic that comes in on top of that, or something that we line up for 2024. Our focus will largely be on London, and some internationally.” Sethi said the business experienced a “really strong trading performance from mid-October onwards, with some really good momentum”. He said: “Trading across all categories, our fine dining, casual dining, pubs etc was encouraging. But then, whether it was a combination of the weather, train strikes and illness, it was a slightly deflating end to the year. We ended the week of the strikes before Christmas 15% down on the previous week. At one point we thought it was going to be much worse, but being down 15% net was, I guess, not too bad, helped by the fact that Thursday, Friday and Saturday held up pretty strongly against the earlier part of the week. We definitely saw something similar to last year, where people came down with covid and moved things to January, which gave us a kind of Q1 bounce back. Let’s hope for the same.”

Sponsored message – book your late Christmas work party now at Boxpark: With Christmas nearly upon us, the hospitality industry has seen a busy December with the World Cup being a big focus for pubs and bars. January is the perfect time to book your work party when the sector has a bit of “downtime” and your employees might benefit from a motivational boost post-Christmas and new year celebrations. At Boxpark, you can host the “ultimate work party with an incredible array of global cuisine, exclusive drinks packages and great entertainment to get your team in good spirits”. A Boxpark spokesperson said: “We have three sites across London and at our amazing Wembley venue, you can even find unique activities such as virtual reality gaming, axe-throwing and a dedicated neon themed PlayBox area with all the best tabletop games. You can choose from a smaller scale gathering or a full venue takeover for up to 2,500. Bookings for January are now available.” For further information, click here. If you have a sponsored story you would like to see featured in this newsletter position, email paul.charity@propelinfo.com.

Some 450 booked for Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit 2023: Some 450 delegates have now booked for this year’s Restaurant Marketer and Innovator two-day conference, taking place on 24 and 25 January at One Moorgate Place in London. More than 50 industry and agency leaders will take to the stage over two days representing brands including Burger King UK, Cornish Bakery, Gail's Bakery, The Alchemist, Hawksmoor, Searcys, Press Up Hospitality Group, Vapiano, Popeyes UK, Inception Group, Oakman Group, New World Trading Company, Peggy Porschen Cakes, Krispy Kreme, KellyDeli, Red Engine, East Coast Concepts, Coco di Mama, The Cocktail Club, Tattu Restaurants, Hilton, Elior, MJMK, Lollipop, Chotto Matte, Ping Pong, Nobu, Gusto Italian, BrewDog, Kaleido, Darjeeling Express, Flat Earth Pizzas and Six by Nico. For the full speaker schedule for day one, click here, and for day two, click here. Day one themes will be consumer and sector trends, start-ups, concepts and creativity and digital evolution, while day two focuses on purpose and responsible business, strategies for growth and communication and culture. Tickets for operators for the two days are £600 plus VAT and £350 plus VAT for one day. Tickets for suppliers are £950 plus VAT for the two days and £525 plus VAT for one day. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Jo Charity at Propel on jo.charity@propelinfo.com.

Coming this month for Premium subscribers – the Who’s Who of UK Food & Beverage: Propel is to add a fifth major database to its Premium service this month. The Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage will be the first time full profiles of the UK’s top 700 food and beverage operators will be available in one place. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database has taken 16 months to pull together, merging Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Propel managing director Paul Charity said: “This invaluable guide simply hasn’t existed in the UK before. It’s a reference guide to the 700 largest operators in the UK. It will also be updated every month, because on average, 50 or so companies update each month of the year. So, if you want to find out the most up-to-date information on a company, this is the database you will need on your desk at all times. It is also a wonderful complement to our Blue Book of Turnover and Profitability, which is also updated each month and ranks these companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion. Together, they provide the UK’s most detailed and insightful profile of absolute and relative performance.” Premium subscribers also receive access to three other databases: the Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database. Premium subscribers are also to be given exclusive access to the recording and slides to Propel Multi-Club Conferences. 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 single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Subscribers also receive access to Propel's library of 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 group editor Mark Wingett.

Company News:

D&D London to close four sites, continues to strategically review portfolio: Restaurant operator D&D London, which owns and operates circa 40 restaurants across the UK and internationally, has said it will cease trading four of its UK-based sites this month. The company said East 59th (Leeds), Klosterhaus (Bristol), Avenue and Radici (London) will cease trading, with Klosterhaus already closed. Kosterhaus, East 59th and Avenue were included in the seven sites Propel revealed that the company had placed on the market last November. The other sites being offered for sale included 100 Wardour Street, Cantina and the Blueprint Café, which are both based in Butlers Wharf, and Issho in the Victoria Gate scheme in Leeds. In September, the LDC-backed business appointed its co-founder, chief operating officer and deputy chairman David Loewi, as interim chief executive, after Des Gunewardena left the company to pursue other ventures. The company said: “Like many other businesses in the hospitality sector, we continue to strategically review our portfolio, and such a decision is a result of the current economic challenges including spiralling utility, food and beverage costs and the unstable labour market. D&D London intends to look after the restaurants’ greatly valued staff and management, and wherever possible, will seek to offer exciting positions in our other venues. D&D restaurants, however, continue to trade well and have had a very positive December, despite the ongoing industrial disputes affecting transport. We are particularly proud of our latest opening, Orelle, in Birmingham; an 88-cover restaurant located on the 24th floor of 103 Colmore Row. The new site, which opened only two months ago, is trading very well, exceeding our revenue projections.”

Pearce – 2023 to be Clean Kitchen Club’s growth year: Mikey Pearce, co-founder of Clean Kitchen Club, has said 2023 will be the fledgling plant-based, fast-food concept’s growth year as “we have all the infrastructure in place to drive the business forward”. The five-strong business, which opened a flagship site in the Battersea Power Station development in October, plans to open three new sites and launch a nationwide product range into the retail sector over the coming 12 months. Pearce said: “2022 was a year we learnt a lot, from raising over £3m to building a team of over 60 employees, bringing in key positions such as an MD, FD, ops manager and head of people. At first, it was a struggle juggling building a brand to dealing with the operations of running a hospitality business and raising investment, but we stayed strong, kept our head down and ended 2022 on a high with the huge success of our Battersea Power Station store. 2023 will be our growth year as we have all the infrastructure in place to drive the business forward across three areas: our stores producing 100% plant based healthy fast food, our catering arm serving up sustainable dining to offices, events and productions across the UK, and our first supermarket product launching in spring.” Propel revealed in July that Steve Easterbrook, the ex-chief executive of McDonald’s, PizzaExpress and Wagamama, had invested in the company, which is chaired by Clive Sharpe, the ex-chairman of Quorn.

Kibou Restaurants promotes Sam Horswill to joint managing director: Kibou Restaurants, the Japanese concept led by Regent Inns founder David Franks, has promoted Sam Horswill to joint managing director, Propel has learned. Horswill, who joined the four-strong group at the end of 2020 as operations director, will lead the business alongside Franks. Prior to joining Kibou, he was head of franchise development at Black & White Hospitality and spent two and a half years at Turtle Bay Restaurants. He also had stints at Peach Pubs and Handmade Burger Co. Kibou opened its fourth venue, in Solihull last April. It joined the casual dining operator’s other sites in Bristol, Cheltenham and London’s Battersea. It is understood the company had been exploring an opening in Beaconsfield but is now in talks on a site in a different location. Franks, who founded Kibou in 2019, was that same year instrumental in the sale of Redcomb Pubs’ 15-strong pub estate to Young’s.

Greggs puts price of sausage roll up again: Food-to-go operator Greggs has again upped the price of its sausage rolls, as new chief executive Roisin Currie said she thought 2023 will “start off tough”. The price of the Greggs sausage roll has risen to £1.20, up from £1.15 in October. In October last year, it rose from £1.10 to £1.15 after starting 2022 at just £1. In some city-centre locations like London, its sausage roll now costs as much as £1.45. Currie said its breakfast meal deal remains at £2.60 and its lunch deal at £3.60. She said it was “too early to tell” how cost inflation will pan out this year but expects it to be a similar situation to last year, which indicates that the chain could implement further price rises. She said: “I think 2023 will certainly start off tough, and that’s why offering value to customers is absolutely central to our proposition.” Soaring inflation means Greggs has been forced to raise the price of some items, Currie said, but told The Telegraph this would generally be no more than 5p to 10p added to the cost of affected goods. She said: “[Pizza has] a winning price point. A slice of pizza and a drink [from Greggs] is £2.40. If you’re on your way home from work, on your way to the cinema or meeting friends, that’s a great proposition.” Currie added that the company was now considering growing the number of its stores that operate 24 hours, including at its drive-through sites.

Ole & Steen ends year strongly with revenue growth of 58%, four sites to open in Q1: Danish baker Ole & Steen has told Propel that 2022 ended strongly with total year-on-year revenue growth of 58%, as it lines up four new openings over the next three months. The business ended 2022 with 22 stores and employee numbers of more than 600. Managing director Lee Nixon said: “We will start 2023 with four openings in Q1 at: Guildford, London Wall, Kingston and Jubilee Place (Canary Wharf). We have also just launched our vegan cinnamon social, which is hugely exciting for us.” Earlier this week, the company reported turnover close to pre-pandemic levels as it narrowed its losses in the year ending 31 December 2021. Revenue was up 117% from £8,104,431 in 2020 to £17,626,566 and was just short of the last pre-pandemic figure of £19,359,301, reported in 2019. Pre-tax losses were down from minus £447,036 in 2020 to minus £256,148 (2019: minus £203,502). It is also thought to be lining up openings in Henley, Marlow, Greenwich and Blackheath.

Argentine steakhouse concept Buenasado secures central London site: Argentine steakhouse concept Buenasado is to make its central London debut after securing a site in St Katharine Docks. The business has secured a subsection of the Honest Burgers site at the mixed-use district near Tower Hill. The company most recently opened on the ex-Loch Fyne Restaurants site in Bluewater, which followed an opening last spring on the former The Ox unit in Bristol’s Whiteladies Road. It also operates sites in Reading and Walton-on-Thames. Buenasado first opened in 2011, in Wimbledon, which is one of five sites – including those in Richmond, Horsham, Reigate and Chiswick – now operating under its sister brand, Buenos Aires Argentine Steakhouse. In 2018, Buenasado’s parent company, Buenos Aires Restaurant Holdings, announced a share merger with High Road Restaurants Group BidCo, owner of the Koh Thai Tapas chain of Thai restaurants, to form a multi-branded restaurant group. Thandwie Shephard, of CDG Leisure, acted on the St Katharine Docks deal.

McDonalds franchisee surpasses pre-pandemic turnover thanks in large part to delivery, margin squeezed by 2.5%: W. Liddy and Co, a McDonald’s franchisee in the north-west of England led by Bill Liddy and operating seven sites, has reported a strong increase in sales and profits for the year ended 31 December 2021, even if margins were cut because of the increased cost of home deliveries. The company reported a turnover of £31,421,618, up from the 2020 figure of £19,972,500 (and still considerably higher than the pre-pandemic 2019 figure of £23,272,445) while pre-tax profits jumped from £381,857 to £2,992,051 and net assets increased from £2,546,913 to £3,250,916. Owner and director Bill Liddy said: “Turnover has grown dramatically during the year, due to a combination of post covid lockdown spending by customers, increased sales from drive-thru and delivery sales (which developed post lockdown). While this much higher level of turnover is welcome, there are considerable additional costs associated with home deliveries, and this has reduced margin by 2.5%. The director is closely monitoring turnover as such rapid growth cannot be sustainable within the current UK economy. Additionally, post year-end trading has been very difficult, as labour and food costs escalated dramatically, without a compensating increase in sales prices. As part of the food and dining industry, during the prior year and early months of the current year the company has inevitably been affected by the current covid-19 pandemic. While restaurants were forced to close during the first lockdown period starting in March 2020, the ability to provide drive-thru, collection and delivery services since reopening allowed the company to recover quickly in the later part of 2020 and into 2021 and continues to be a going concern, with strong improvement in 2021. The company continues to monitor and manage the covid-19 risks.” Bill Liddy’s daughter, Emma Vieira, become one of the first second generation McDonald’s franchisees when she took over a site at Gosforth Park from her father in 2019.

Kaleido Rolls in talks on international launch, crowdfunding campaign nears £700,000: Healthy food concept Kaleido, which specialises in salad rolls/rice paper rolls, is in talks to make its debut overseas as its current crowdfunding campaign nears the £700,000 mark. Propel understands that the six-strong, London-based business is in discussions on a franchise deal with a “very large foodservice player in the Netherlands”, alongside “working on several exciting opportunities in the UK and abroad”. The business, which was launched five years ago by wife and husband team Laura Mimoun and Denis Dahan, is set to close its crowdfunding campaign through Seedrs this week. Launched in November, with a target of £400,010, offering 6.68% of equity, with a pre-money valuation of £6m, the business has so far raised £669,395 from 273 investors. It plans to grow its estate to 25 sites by 2025. The business plans to split the funds raised as follows: 60% will be allocated to opening new stores and sites, 20% will be invested in wider marketing opportunities and a bespoke new packaging, and 20% will help strengthen its head office function. The business said it is backed by key investors from the industry including Marcel Khan, formerly of Five Guys, Nando’s and Thunderbird Fried Chicken, who is a non-executive director. It is projecting opening one shop every two months.

South-west brewery recovers after ‘most testing period’ in its history: Dorset-based family-run brewery and pub company Palmers, which operates 53 pubs in Dorset, Somerset and Devon and has been trading since 1794, has reported a “year of recovery after the most testing period” of its history in its accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022. Turnover was £9,528,589 – double the 2021 figure of £4,792,613, with a profit before tax of £2,250,290 (2021: £320,205) – which was largely comparable with the two most recent pre-pandemic years (2020 turnover: £9,510,258; 2019 turnover: £10,059,720). The company received £93,710 in government grants (2021: £547,665). In a statement accompanying the accounts managing director John Palmer said: “This performance is a reflection on our dedicated team who have worked tirelessly to help the business get back to previous levels of activity. This year started well, but we are entering a period of more turbulent times, with inflationary pressures being experienced and reducing individual spending power due to higher prices and levels of personal taxation. However, the estate remains in good repair, well positioned to benefit from any improvements in demand that we may see over the next year.”

Otherworld lines up Manchester opening: Otherworld, the Imbiba and Edge-backed immersive entertainment business, has lined up a new opening in Manchester, Propel has learned. The business, which currently operates sites in Victoria, Hackney and Birmingham, is understood to have lined up an opening in the city’s Spring Gardens for later this year. Propel understands the company is planning at least four openings this year across the UK and US. Miami and Austin are understood to be its initial US targets, before New York and Boston follow. Founded in 2017 by Ed Wardle and Chris Adams, Otherworld has raised £6.4m in venture capital and secured locations with Land Securities, Transport for London and Hortons’ Estate, and said it “transports thousands of guests to the metaverse” every week. With locations contributing strong cash flows, reinvested in the development of the VR experience, the business said it expects to reach positive group cash flow in mid-2023.

Mayfair casino posts big losses again after spending much of the year closed: Exclusive Mayfair casino operator Les Ambassadeurs has reported a second year of significant losses after global travel restrictions severely impacted on trade and led to the closure of the club for long periods of the financial year. The club, which relies on wealthy foreign nations to provide as much as 95% of its turnover in a typical year, reported a turnover of £7,066,000 for the period ended 31 December 2021, reduced from £12,267,000 the previous year and massively down on the total of £100,217,000 in the last pre-pandemic year ended December 2019. The company reported a loss before taxation of £31,764,000, broadly similar to the 2020 figure of £32,813,000, despite being in receipt of £4,280,000 in government grants (2020: £5,359,000). In a statement accompanying the accounts, the directors said: “The majority of our customers were unable to visit London and the club, so the directors made the decision not to reopen even when the legislation prohibiting us to open was lifted. This decision was made to protect the longer-term viability of the business and our employees, as the operational costs of opening would have not been covered by the incremental revenue that may have been generated from our UK-based customers. The club only reopened on 27 September 2021. Les Ambassadeurs Online successfully launched on 11 October 2021 with a continued focus on offering remote gaming to the group’s membership.” The club, referred to as ‘Les A’ by its members, has a rich history with a series of aristocratic residents over the years. Since 2017, it has been owned by Chi Hung Suen, who also owns Birmingham City Football Club.

Boparan Restaurant Group to expand Haven and Slim Chickens partnership, including debut Scotland site: Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) is to expand the partnership between its Slim Chickens brand and the Bourne Leisure-owned holiday park business Haven, including a debut opening in Scotland. BRG has partnered with Bourne Leisure to roll out its Slim Chickens brand in UK holiday parks, last summer, with the first opening under the new deal – at the Haven holiday park in Hafan Y Mor, Wales. It opened subsequent Slim Chickens sites at the Haven parks in Devon Cliffs and Primrose Valley. Propel now understands that further openings will follow at Perran Sands and Thorpe Park. At the same time, Haven has applied to open a Slim Chickens on the grounds of its Craig Tara Holiday Park, in Ayrshire, which would see the chicken brand make its debut in Scotland. Last month, BRG opened its latest Slim Chickens site in the UK, on the ex-Carluccio’s restaurant site, in the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. The company currently operates 29 Slim Chickens sites in the UK, including three in its Restaurant Hub format within Sainsbury’s superstores. It plans to develop food courts at 150 of the supermarket chain’s stores that will feature a clutch of BRG’s brands.

Coffee company sees café sites return to pre-pandemic levels but incurs losses: Grind & Co, which operates 13 cafés, coffee shops and trucks in London, has reported “strong and profitable trading results” in its accounts for the year ended 30 April 2022, with sales at its café outlets returning to pre-pandemic levels. Turnover for the year totalled £8,325,798, a four-fold increase of the 2021 figure of £2,098,147 and approaching pre-pandemic levels (year to April 2019 turnover: £10,684,783). The company made a pre-tax loss of £1,700,086 (2021: loss of £2,113,902) and was in receipt of government grants totalling £168,532 (2021: £2,250,683). However, Grind achieved a positive Ebitda of £239,575 (2021: negative £1,193,013). In a statement accompanying the accounts, founder and chief executive David Abrahamovitch said: “Our larger café sites (representing more than 80% of high street sales) finished the year back trading at pre-pandemic levels. However, our smaller coffee shops in the city continue to see slower footfall with increased working from home. The business also suffered from the de-facto lockdown in December 2021 and January 2022, which curtailed trade at a key point in the year for the high street industry. Notwithstanding these challenges, the business generated Ebitda of £0.2m in the year, having made losses in the previous two years. Grind Trucks have been a real success in the last 12 months, and post year-end, we have opened locations in Battersea Power Station and Bicester Village. We will continue to look for opportunities to position trucks and open new permanent locations. Given the challenges the business and the broader industry faced during the year, management is satisfied with the strong and profitable trading results delivered by the business.”

SushiSamba says sales ‘encouraging’ since trading restrictions lifted: Samba London, trading as SushiSamba, which runs two restaurants and a number of bars from its two-floor complex on the 38th and 39th floors of the Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate, City of London, has reported that trading continued to be impacted during its year ended 31 December 2021, but that sales had been encouraging since trading restrictions were lifted. The company stated that its overriding KPI was Ebitda, which was revealed as a positive £1,308,000 compared to a negative figure of £1,009,000 in the year to December 2020. Revenue for the year was £15,603,721, up from £9,506,646 in the previous year, with a profit before tax of £375,849 (2020: loss of £1,934,586). By way of comparison, revenue for the last pre-pandemic year to December 2019 was £25,055,479. In a statement accompanying the accounts director Shimon Bokovza said: “Trading in early 2021 continued to be impacted due to the coronavirus restrictions, with the premises closed for the first 102 days of the year. Since reopening, both customer demand and sales were encouraging, reflecting a 15% increase in sales comparative to the same period in 2019 and pre-covid closures. Strong consumer demand and sales continued into 2022, with a 6% increase in sales in the first half of 2022; while it is not practicable to accurately predict the longer-term impact on consumer behaviour, the directors expect the company’s underlying operations to continue to exceed pre-pandemic levels.”

Belgian frites concept Awesome Chips launches franchise model, eyes UK and Europe roll out: Belgian frites concept Awesome Chips has launched as a franchise model as its looks to expand the brand across the UK and Europe. The company, which was set up in 2015 and serves fresh hand cut chips, complimented with a range of sauces, rubs and spices, currently has sites in Leicester, Wood Green in London and the Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham. Founder Roni Dalal, who continues to manage the Leicester site, said: “While travelling a few years ago, I came across frites stands in Belgium. It was clear if done well, putting the humble potato on a pedestal really worked! Regardless, if you are a kid or an OAP, whatever your gender, ethnicity, background, vegan or Halal, everyone loves chips!” Following more research, including a six-week stint selling chips at a German market, the concept of Awesome Chips was created. Dalal said: “Our fresh cut chips, double fried and served up in funky paper cones with a choice of our signature spices, rubs and sauces have already proven to be super popular. Over the past few years, we’ve thoroughly tried, tested and proven the simplicity of the Awesome Chips concept. Now backed by our experienced operations and franchise team, new franchisees have the chance to join our mission to bring the best Belgian chips to new customers in locations across the UK.” For the right franchisees, the company said that multi-unit franchise deals are also available in locations across the UK and Europe.

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