Tortilla hires former Groupe Le Duff VP as MD in France: Tortilla, Europe’s largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand, has hired Eric Wauthier-Wurmser as managing director to lead its French business. Wauthier-Wurmser joins Tortilla with immediate effect and will serve on its European sub-board committee. In his new role, Wauthier-Wurmser will oversee 13 company-owned stores, and 18 franchised locations acquired earlier this summer from Fresh Burritos. He will report into the newly formed Tortilla European sub-board committee, which was created with chair Francesca Tiritiello, also group non-executive director and former Yum! European franchise division chief financial officer, and non-executive director Gilles Boehringer, former vice-president of development and franchise for KFC France. Group chief executive Andy Naylor and Tortilla’s founder Brandon Stephens have since joined as non-executive director and board advisor respectively. Tortilla said Wauthier-Wurmser brings a wealth of experience in international franchise management and restaurant operations. In his most recent role as vice-president operations and franchise at Groupe Le Duff, he led the Brioche Dorée brand, overseeing 350 restaurants, driving the brand’s growth and operational excellence. Prior to this, he served as managing director – international café bakery for Groupe Le Duff, where he successfully managed the international business unit across EMEA and APAC regions. Naylor said: “Eric’s extensive knowledge of the French market, combined with our European sub-board committee and growing leadership team, creates a strong foundation for our success in France. Integration of the French business is progressing well, with our first converted Tortilla restaurant in Strasbourg and new central production kitchen located in Lille, both set to open in the fourth quarter of 2024.” Wauthier-Wurmser added: “Tortilla’s innovative, high-quality menu is clearly gaining traction, and I look forward to continuing this fantastic momentum. The strong appetite for fast casual restaurants in France, combined with the rise of the burrito market in Europe, creates a unique opportunity for Tortilla for solid growth in the upcoming years. Growth channels would include franchisees as well as travel retail partners, for which our business format is perfect.”
Premium Club members to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database on Friday: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club members on Friday (6 September). The database will show the details of 240 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. It will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club members will also receive a 11,881-word report on the 268 new additions to the database. The database is now segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. New openings in the pub and bar sector include The Clubhouse, a new sports bar from
The Superlative Group;
Arc Inspirations bringing its Manahatta brand to Nottingham; and
Heartwood Collection opening The White Hart in Lewes, East Sussex. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases:
the Multi-Site Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and
the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Talent and Training Conference (1 October), Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier.
Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
Shake Shack UK operator says trading landscape improving as it reports record full-year turnover of £49m: Diverse Dining, which operates Shake Shack in the UK, has reported the trading landscape is improving and as a result is pursuing new restaurant openings. It comes as the company reported turnover increased to a record £49,014,248 for the year ending 31 December 2023 compared with £44,182,914 the previous year. Pre-tax losses narrowed to £764,005 from £4,589,546 the year before. In their report accompanying the accounts, the directors stated: “The company has implemented a stronger digital presence within the marketplace and is developing its omnichannel. The company opened four new sites in 2023 with two scheduled for 2024 (St Pancras in London opened in June 2024). Sales continued to increase throughout 2023, despite the closing of certain of the delivery kitchens. In 2023 and moving into 2024, the trading landscape continues to improve with restaurant sales increasing towards pre-pandemic levels. Due to this change, the company is actively in pursuit of further sites within its trading area.” No dividend was paid (2022: nil). The company, which employs circa 700 staff, operates 18 sites in the UK. Shake Shack will add to its portfolio in Britain with an opening at the Grand Central shopping centre in Birmingham later this year while the brand is also set to further strengthen its footprint in London with an opening in the former Royal Bank of Scotland premises at 78 Notting Hill Gate.
Long Chim tries again for long-awaited London opening: The long-awaited UK debut for Long Chim, the Thai restaurant concept from David Thompson, is understood to have taken a step forward, with an opening planned in London’s Soho. Propel understands that Long Chim could open as part of the site currently housing Hovarda in Rupert Street. It is thought Long Chim will take space on the ground floor of the site, with Hovarda recently configuring its offer on the first floor. Last year, plans to open a Long Chim, in London’s Chinatown, were paused. It was announced that sector consultancy firm TGP International had secured a site at 9 Horse & Dolphin Yard for Long Chim as part of a licensing deal, but the site subsequently returned to the market. Long Chim is backed by Aylmer Aaharn, which was co-founded by Simon Dewhurst and Thompson in 2011. It currently runs Long Chim restaurants in Australia, in Sydney and Perth, with a further site set to open on the Gold Coast. Pre-pandemic, Thompson was linked with opening a Long Chim site in Battersea. Dewhurst is also a backer of Marceline, the new brasserie, which opened in Canary Wharf this summer, and is also backed by the team behind Hovarda. Mediterranean concept Hovarda is set to open a second site in the space under Marceline at Wood Wharf, later this autumn.
Wagamama to launch new Leeds site to hit ambition of ten UK restaurant openings in 2024: Wagamama, The Restaurant Group-owned brand, is set to open a new site in Leeds next month. The opening at The Springs retail and leisure park marks Wagamama’s tenth new opening in 2024 – the ambition it set out at the beginning of the year and brings the total number of restaurants to 169 across the UK. The restaurant, which opens next month and will create 52 jobs, will have 120 internal and 30 external covers. Open seven days a week, the new restaurant will create 52 new jobs. In July, Wagamama announced the launch of “soul club”, its first loyalty programme, where members can redeem free menu items, access exclusive content and engage with a new line up of ambassadors. For every visit, guests receive a stamp in their digital stamp-book, inspired by the Japanese tradition of Hanko stamps.
Young staff least likely to work from home: Young Londoners are leading the return to the office in Britain, but older workers’ preference for working from home is causing the country to lag behind rivals. In a survey of work habits in London, Paris, New York, Sydney and Singapore and Toronto, London had the second-lowest rate of office attendance, according to Centre for Cities, a think tank. Paris had the highest rate and Toronto the lowest. Generation Z Londoners aged 18 to 24 are in the office 3.1 days a week, while those aged 35 to 44 average only 2.5 days, reports The Times. Attendance rebounds slightly to 2.7 days for those 55 and over. Younger workers may be keen to return because 43% said they work best in the office, compared with 25% at home. This may be due to younger workers having less space and privacy at home. Despite the majority (95%) of workers surveyed by Centre for Cities noting the benefits to being in the office, including collaboration and building relationships, office working is still below pre-pandemic levels across all cities. Centre for Cities suggested that employers subsidise commute costs to help to lure reluctant workers back in, as Parisian companies are expected to do. The UK government could help by bringing back Transport for London’s trial for off-peak Friday fares the think tank said.
