Le Pain Quotidien reveals target locations as it seeks franchisees to start building back its UK estate: Le Pain Quotidien has revealed a list of target locations as it seeks franchise partners to start building back its UK estate. The business, which was founded in Belgium in 1990 before growing to circa 220 locations in 20 countries, first entered the UK market in 2002, and in 2020, the majority of its 26 UK sites were acquired by BrunchCo in a pre-pack administration. BrunchCo exited several unprofitable restaurants, and in 2023 it was placed into administration, closing nine further locations. Its site in London’s St Pancras International station continued to trade as it is run by a separate company, and it remains the only Le Pain Quotidien site currently trading in the UK. The company is now looking to build on that and is preparing to exhibit at next month’s International Franchise Show London, at the ExCel. It is seeking franchise partners with local expertise, experience in food and beverage, financial strength, long term commitment and alignment of core values. A list of target cities includes London, Oxford, Reading, Brighton, Bournemouth, Southampton, Bristol and Bath. Moving north, its target locations include Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and York. Also on the list is Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in Scotland, Cardiff in Wales and Dublin in Ireland. The company said: “This map highlights a selection of potential cities where we are actively seeking to expand. These cities are available for future entrepreneurs to open their own Le Pain Quotidien franchise. Please note this is only a small sample of the numerous locations we have identified for development; it does not represent the complete list of target cities.” The company said the average investment per store is £400,000 for 200 square-metres, and its new store opening fee is £20,000. Its term contract is three terms of seven years and royalties are 7%, including marketing and digital fees and ongoing brand support. It said profit potential is 10%-15%, depending on rent, and development fees are variable, based on territory size and capacity. It added that these amounts are indicative and based on current numbers. Le Pain Quotidien features in the UK Food & Beverage Franchisor Database, which features a total of 340 companies, and which is exclusive to Premium Club subscribers. 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.

 

New speakers join Excellence in Pub & Bar Retailing Conference line-up, open for bookings with 20% discount on tickets for Premium Club subscribers: New speakers have joined the line-up for the Excellence in Pub & Bar Retailing Conference. The all-day conference takes place on Wednesday, 14 May at One Moorgate Place in London and is open for bookings. The new speakers include Chris Hill, managing director of Urban Pubs & Bars, who will join Propel group editor Mark Wingett to discuss the ethos that has driven the award-winning business to become London’s largest independent pub operator, producing record-breaking Ebitda and turnover performance. Meanwhile, Dominic Jacobs, managing director of JKS Pubs, has joined a panel that will feature Jonathon Swaine, managing director of Shepherd Neame, Charlie McVeigh, non-executive director at the Revel Collective, Oisin Rogers, co-founder of The Devonshire, and Joycelyn Neve, founder and managing director Seafood Pub Company, to talk about the challenge the sector faces in attracting new customers, ways in which the sector can go about evolving to do just that, and whether loyalty schemes can play a part. For the full speaker schedule, click here. Tickets are £295 plus VAT for operators and £345 plus VAT for suppliers. There is a 20% discount for operators and suppliers who are Premium Club subscribers. Email: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to book places.

 

Premium Club subscribers to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database this week: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (4 April), at noon. The database will show the details of 187 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database 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 monthly and Premium Club subscribers will also receive a 11,039-word report on the 187 new additions to the database. The database is 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. The database includes new openings in the casual dining sector such as Wasabi, the sushi and bento brand opening in Central London, Sonder, a new neighbourhood bistro in Cardiff, and the Taiwanese noodle concept Kung Fu Mama, which is launching in London. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025) and discounts on specialist sector reports such as the International Brands report. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers 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 subscribers 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 subscribers 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.

Dishoom co-founder – I see hospitality and growth as being natural enemies, our job is to reconcile them: Shamil Thakrar, co-founder of the award-winning, Indian restaurant group Dishoom, has told Propel that he sees hospitality and growth being natural enemies, and that “our job as operators is to reconcile them, and to always keep hospitality as the dominant partner”. Talking at last week’s Propel Multi-Club Conference, Thakrar said he and his team decided early on that the current 13-strong business was not to grow at a rate “faster than the rate at which we can increase the quality of what we do”. He said: “Hence the phrase deepen, don’t dilute. So, never dilute what you do. I’d like to think that a meal in Dishoom today is better than the one last week, than one last year, than ten years ago. The job really is to keep deepening hospitality and then decide what the growth rate is for that. And I’m going to say something controversial, because we probably will talk about growth. I think hospitality and growth are enemies. Because if you’ve got one restaurant, you can do hospitality right – you can know everyone. Two restaurants, I can still do it, but it’s a bit harder. Five restaurants, it is harder still. So, I think of hospitality and growth being natural enemies. I’m not saying you shouldn't grow, but I think our job as operators is to reconcile them and to always keep hospitality as the dominant partner. Our jobs are not about growth, they are about hospitality – always focused on making sure the customer is having a fantastic time, that the food is better and that the team member is happier. My biggest fear is that we lose track of that focus on making it awesome every time.” Thakrar was among the speakers at last week’s Propel Multi-Club Conference. His video and the 13 others from the conference will be made available to Premium Club members on Wednesday, 9 April, at 9am. 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.

Butlin’s CEO  – we create jobs, but where’s the help for us?: Butlin’s chief executive, Jon Hendry Pickup, has asked how the hospitality sector can deliver growth when higher employment costs are about to kick in. From 1 April, the basic wage for workers over 21 will increase by 6.7%. Five days later, the government will hike the rate of national insurance on staff earnings and lower the threshold at which it is collected. The former Prezzo chief executive told the Sunday Times: “For me to employ somebody who’s 16 or 17, working part-time, the incremental cost is 18% per hour versus last year — far more than those aged 18 and over. It breaks my heart, but why would I do that?” Pickup said Butlin’s is on track for record revenues in 2025 but profits will, at best, be flat because of increased labour costs. “We’ll have to run really hard just to be in the same place,” he said. “Hospitality doesn’t seem to be the focal point. You see ministers visiting businesses that they think are going to be the sexy parts of growth in the future, but that’s not the vast majority of the UK.” Pickup would love to invest in a fourth site but says that doing so feels nigh-on impossible at the moment. He said: “We’ve got white space in the northwest — we don’t capture enough of the people there if you think about Manchester, Preston, Blackpool and north Wales. You would think we would be a good focal point for the government; they want more of a balance across the UK. But unfortunately, it seems they are focusing on other things than businesses like us.” Meanwhile, south west operator Beckford Group co-founder Dan Brod has said the forthcoming cost increases has made the company question its viability. Brod told The Observer: “It’s very tough. We’re really being forced to question whether this is viable. My personal politics are slightly left of centre, but it seems odd the government is asking us to raise prices and employ less people. There is no other answer than that.” Mike Gavin, director of Arc Hospitality Recruitment, a Merseyside-based agency specialising in hospitality which hires 9,000 workers each year, added: “We’re likely to see an effective doubling in our employer NI bill. There is going to be a financial impact, and it won’t be an insignificant one.”

Government says ‘gig economy’ bosses could be jailed and companies given unlimited fines if they take on visa-less workers: Yvette Cooper has pledged to end “jobs on tap” for illegal immigrants by closing loopholes in Britain’s lax border laws. The home secretary has vowed to “restore order to the asylum system” by targeting takeaway delivery services and beauty salons that hire on the black market. She is announcing that rogue bosses of “gig economy” companies that employ workers without a visa could face unlimited fines and five years behind bars. She told The Telegraph: “We are restoring order to the asylum system. This means introducing tough laws and stopping rogue employers in their tracks. We will clamp down on the jobs on tap that undercut the labour market.” The government has said there are thousands of companies across the UK using flexible arrangements like these, which include zero-hours contracts. It means the visa status of many people hired in sectors including food delivery, construction, beauty salons and courier services is not verified. Takeaways, restaurants, car washes and barber shops are among the businesses that have been found most likely to hire illegal workers.

PCA warns pub companies over compliance with right to price match over premises insurance: The Pub Code adjudicator (PCA), Fiona Dickie, has written to pub companies to ensure they are compliant with its regulations concerning premises insurance – in particular, a tied tenant's right to price match. It follows a review of Star Pubs’ reported breaches of the Code, which concerned the information Star provided to tenants regarding their premises insurance. Under the Code, a pub company must provide tied tenants with information about the premises insurance it intends to charge. If states that if the tenant finds an alternative policy suitable and comparable in coverage, the pub company must buy it or agree the tenant will not have to pay the difference. Following the conclusion of the review in March 2024, the PCA wrote to all pub companies to draw attention to Star’s actions and ensure any self-insurance arrangements were compliant with the Code. It has now written again to the companies, asking them to verify compliance – particularly with the requirements of the price match right. “The PCA is clear that pub companies should not be considering whether a tenant’s alternative policy is the same or better than the pub company’s existing policy, or ‘like for like’,” it said. “The statutory test is ‘suitable and comparable’. The PCA’s 2024 annual tied tenant survey showed that only 56% of tenants were aware of their right to price match the amount they pay their pub company for premises insurance on the open market. The PCA has asked all pub companies to consider whether changes should be made to their insurance communications with tied tenants to improve awareness of their rights, and to ensure the price match right under the Pubs Code is clearly explained.”

 

UKHospitality Scotland calls for ‘rushed’ Highlands tourist tax plan to be delayed: UKHospitality Scotland has said proposals for a visitor levy in the Highlands should be postponed. In its response to the Highland Council consultation on introducing a levy in autumn 2026, UKHospitality Scotland said the authority was rushing to implement a scheme without proper consideration and engagement with businesses. The trade body said the consultation was based on proposals that lacked the required level of detail, including an economic impact assessment. Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, said: “The rushed proposals put forward by Highland Council are clearly not suitable for consultation and I would urge the council to take them back to the drawing board. The proposals put forward are not detailed enough, and the lack of proper engagement by the council with local businesses is telling. The danger of getting this wrong could have significant impacts on the Highlands, with its reputation as a leading visitor destination in Scotland put at risk. It would be far more effective for the council to work together with UKHospitality Scotland, the Highland Hotels Association and other local and national bodies to engage in proper dialogue before it puts forward proposals for consultation.”

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a coffee brand that is seeking a business development manager. A COREcruitment spokesperson said: “The role will be responsible for winning new business, maximising sustainable short and long-term sales, boost profitability and increase brand awareness within new sectors, including the business-to-business hotel, restaurant and café/catering  channels.” The salary is up to £60,000 and the position is based in London. For more information, email mikey@corecruitment.com.

 

Barworks – a lot of interest in the Mare Street Kitchen brand, both in the UK and internationally: London bar group Barworks has told Propel that “there's a lot of interest” in its Mare Street Kitchen brand, both in the UK and internationally, and that once its newer sites are bedded in and “contributing positively to the group, we’ll be looking for further growth opportunities”. It comes as the business, which opened Mare Street Market Kings Cross and Two Floors in Soho last year, said current trading is good. The company told Propel: “We had ten consecutive weeks of increased sales as we moved through January and February and the recent good weather has produced a further uplift. Our focus is on building the sales at the two sites we opened last year, Mare Street Market Kings Cross and Two Floors in Soho. Both sites are tracking nicely. We are also carrying out minor improvements to our two existing sites, Mare Street Market Hackney and The Starman in Mayfair. Both are trading well, and the planned changes will improve operating efficiencies. Once the new sites are bedded in and contributing positively to the group, we’ll be looking for further growth opportunities.  The Mare Street Market brand lends itself to the activation of large buildings, so we’ll see where that takes us.  There’s a lot of interest in the brand, both in the UK and internationally.” It comes off the back of a “busy” year to 30 June 2024 for the business. It said: “While foundations were laid for the future direction of the group, it was not without its challenges. The main focus during the year was the development and opening of our most ambitious site to date. Mare Street Market Kings Cross covers 18,000 square feet over two floors and follows the blueprint from the original, very successful, Mare Street Market in Hackney. While fitting out this site, the group's most profitable site – Gas Station, also in Kings Cross – was handed back to the landlord for redevelopment following exercise of a break-clause. This was a blow to the group and bad timing given the commitment to Mare Street Market Kings Cross. The loss of Gas Station was softened by the group regaining possession of its very first site, Two Floors. This site was surrendered to the landlord in April 2022 for redevelopment works, eventually being returned in December 2023. On the back of these changes, turnover from continuing operations dropped from £9.2m to £6.5m, a fall of 28.7%. Gross profit from continuing operations dropped from £6.1m to £4.3m, a fall of 29.7%. Food and drink cost inflation impacted the gross profit margin, which fell from 66.7% to 65.7% during the year. Adjusted Ebitda from continued operations rose by 3.9%, increasing from £323,781 to £336,395 (adjusted for new site pre-opening losses and exceptional items).”

PizzaExpress promotes Ben Lawrence to international director: PizzaExpress, the Paula MacKenzie-led business, has promoted Ben Lawrence to the role of international director as it gears up to relaunch in the US. Lawrence, who was formerly at Costa Coffee and Yum! International, has been the company’s head of franchise growth for the last two years. Propel revealed more than a year ago that PizzaExpress was looking to return to the US and had begun the search for franchisees to aid its expansion there. It set up a new company, PizzaExpress US, to oversee the move, and said in December that it would open a first restaurant there this year, in Florida, in partnership with Purple Square Management Company. PizzaExpress previously attempted to launch in the US in the 1990s. Firstly, it opened three sites in the mid-1990s in California with Harshad Desai, at the time PizzaExpress’ biggest franchisee in the UK. A couple of years later, the business opened a restaurant in Philadelphia, under a joint venture with US restaurant brand owner Avado Brands (known until 1998 as Apple South). The restaurant opened in the city’s Walnut Street under the name San Marzano, and Avado planned to open one or two further locations as it tested the concept, including a site in Washington DC. All the sites subsequently closed. Lawrence told The Telegraph: “Assuming that Florida goes well, it’s a very good test for us to demonstrate to the rest of the US how we do show up there. There’s probably no actual state that I could think of that we wouldn’t enter.” PizzaExpress trades from circa 350 sites in the UK and Ireland, alongside 110 international and franchise locations spanning 12 markets, and has ambitions to open 1,000 restaurants globally by 2030.

 

Sourdough Sophia ups expansion target as it secures further funding: Sourdough Sophia, the London micro bakery concept, has upped its expansion target to having 20 sites open by 2029 after securing a further £600,000 in new funding. The two-strong business, which was founded by Sophia Handschuh and Jesse Sutton-Jones in Crouch End, will open its next site in BoxHall Liverpool Street on 10 April. It will follow this a month later with an opening in Swain’s Lane, Highgate, and then in June, it is planning to open in Hampstead. The business, which last year opened at 117-119 Essex Road, Islington, has recently secured an additional investment of £600,000 to oversee these new openings. The group, which previously raised £500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign in 2023, raised a further £500,000 through crowdfunding last summer. With its most recent fundraising, which gave the business a pre-money valuation of £4m, the company said it planned to open three more sites by FY25, with an annual turnover projected to be £4m. It said revenue in FY24 was £1.8m from two stores and one central production unit. It plans to have ten stores and two central production units by FY27, with a projected revenue of £8m-plus, and a £20m-plus valuation. The expansion will be made up of a mixture of larger sites with indoor seating, and smaller, hatch-style kiosk sites that offer takeaway only. Handschuh told Propel the company’s expansion focus “will be in London and mostly in North London”. Adam Bowers, of onepoint2, acts for Sourdough Sophia.

 

Wingstop UK co-founders ‘will start another business together when the time is right’: Tom Grogan has said he and his Wingstop UK co-founders “will start another business together when the time is right”. Grogan co-founded Lemon Pepper Holdings, the UK franchisee for the US fried chicken brand, in 2018 with Herman Sahota and Saul Lewin. Having grown the company to more than 50 locations, the trio sold their business to US private equity group Sixth Street in December, for a price believed to be in excess of £400m. Grogan told The Times: “It’s a crazy feeling – at times, it still doesn’t feel real. My phone had been going off 30 times a day, then after the deal happened, you’d look at your bank account and there was a period of elation, but you do feel a bit flat afterwards – everything just stops.” He said he and his co-founders, who all live in the UAE, will start another business together when the time is right, adding: “We’ve got a lot more left in us.” Grogan also described how after being kicked out of sixth form college, he worked as a labourer while soaking up advice from the owner of the business – a friend’s father and property developer – before moving into private equity and then setting up his own residential property business. It was while sitting in his office that he heard rapper Rick Ross, a Wingstop investor in the US, sing about the brand, before looking it up online and winning the UK franchise by sending a cold email. “The restaurant space had been pretty stagnant for 15 years and we felt we could bring something new into the mix,” he added. Although it took nine months to find the required level of investment, the trio opened their first store, in Cambridge Circus, in the of autumn 2018 – and within a month it was turning over £50,000 a week. When the pandemic hit, they only had two sites but found success in opening a handful of delivery-only kitchens. “We had a 300 square feet kitchen churning out £80,000 (worth of orders) a week,” Grogan said. “Because of the sheer lack of options on delivery at that time, with everyone closed, if you were open, you were able to take advantage.” Wingstop now has 62 sites, employing more than 2,700 people.

Slim Chickens secures Merry Hill site: Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) has secured a site at the Merry Hill shopping centre in the West Midlands for its Slim Chickens brand. Slim Chickens has taken a prominent location at one of the food court entrances to the centre. It will open the two-floor, 5,229 square-foot unit, with seating for 175 covers, in May. Ben Blore, head of operations at Slim Chickens, said: “Merry Hill already boasts a diverse and vibrant dining scene with a loyal customer base, so we are looking forward to welcoming customers from across the West Midlands.” JLL, Time Retail Partners and Font Real Estate represent Merry Hill.

 

Wahaca co-founder – the next six months feels like such an opportunity to introduce a whole new world of people to the brand: Mark Selby, co-founder and chairman of Wahaca, the Mexican restaurant group, has said that the next six months feels like such an opportunity to introduce a whole new world of people to the business, as he argued against the negative perception of chains. He said: “Going into a very worrying economic environment, it feels that there is an important place for the ‘good chain’ offering delicious, nutritious and freshly cooked food. We've just come off the back of interviewing a whole lot of 20 to 30-year-old Londoners about Wahaca, and almost without fail, their initial response was negative. The crux of it was: ‘I would never go to Wahaca because it’s a chain.’ I felt the tightening of the noose around my neck when I read this. We then asked them to go and visit a Wahaca and did some focus groups off the back of their visit, and the results were staggering. The feedback was excellent. If the truth be told, we let ourselves down on a few occasions due to service (the food was bang on every time), but the overwhelming majority (more than 95%) said they had never realised how good we were and that they would definitely come back – and would even tell their friends and bring them too. I didn't know whether to laugh in happiness that what we are offering after all these years remains relevant and exciting, or cry because we have been so awful at showing a new generation who we really are. The next six months feels like such an opportunity to introduce a whole new world of people to Wahaca. My message: a chain doesn’t have to be a pariah. Some of us genuinely care about our customers, how we treat our teams and the quality of each and every one of our dishes and drinks. A year into opening Wahaca Paddington we are still on 4.9 stars (out of five) on Google, with nearly 1,400 reviews. We must be doing something right!”

High Road Restaurants sells 45% of shareholding in Koh Thai for £10 to focus on Buenos Aires steak brands: High Road Restaurants has sold 45% of its shareholding in Koh Thai for £10 to focus on its Buenos Aires steak brands – Buenos Aires and Buenasado. In the company’s accounts for the year 30 June 2024, director Gareth Lloyd-Jones said at the year end, the company operated four sites under the Koh Thai brand. Its Lymington site closed in January 2024 “due to lack of footfall in the area”, along with a trial dark kitchen in Bristol, where “sales never reached sustainable levels after “promising early signs”. Lloyd-Jones said trade has been “tough” on the south coast, even during the normally strong summer period, but that Koh Thai continues to perform well at its Bournemouth, Poole, Southsea and Port Solent sites. He said: “As part of its ongoing strategic review process, the directors decided to release the Koh Thai brand from the group in order to focus its capital and management on the BA brands. On 29 November 2024, the group sold its 45% shareholding in Koh Thai (formerly High Road Thai Restaurants) to the director of that company for £10. The bank loan outstanding on the group’s balance sheet, utilised for trading purposes by Koh Thai, was repaid prior to the transaction, and the charge held by the bank was released on the same date. In addition, net inter-company balances of £146,662 due to the group from Koh Thai were converted to loan notes, bearing 2% interest from 1 January 2026. The loan notes are due for repayment by instalments on 29 September 2027, 2028, and 2029.” The owner of Koh Thai brand now is company’s managing director, Jeremy Sykes. High Road Restaurants now operates four sites each under its Buenos Aires and Buenasado brands, following the decision to close its Horsham site, which was gutted by a fire in the summer of 2023, permanently – as previously reported. The company received £212,899 in insurance payouts relating to the fire (2023: nil) but also reported a £102,301 loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment (2023: nil). The company narrowed its pre-tax loss during the year, from £2,719,039 to £1,721,614, although the 2023 figure included exceptional items of -£468,685 in relation to an onerous lease provision and fixed assets impairments. Its turnover grew from £13,580,342 to £14,220,357. Lloyd-Jones added: “Trade during the year has continued to be strong, largely due to the strong performance of its stable, loyal operations teams at all levels throughout the business. Both the Buenos Aires and Buenasado brands are generating cash from operations and building cash reserves. However, the primary focus of the directors is to continue to improve profitability of the existing estate where possible, reduce debt and strengthen the balance sheet before seeking further opportunities to grow organically via new openings and/or acquisition.”

 

Heartwood Collection hires rooms director: Heartwood Collection, the Alchemy Partners-backed business which operates 28 Heartwood Inns pubs and 14 Brasserie Blanc restaurants across the UK, has hired Kate Bentley as its first rooms director, Propel has learned. Bentley joins the Richard Ferrier-led business, from the Inn Collection, where she spent more than four years as that group’s rooms director. Heartwood remains on track to open more than 60 sites by 2027, with more than 500 rooms, as part of its ambitious growth trajectory following its £100m investment by Alchemy. At the end of last year, the business opened its fifth pub with rooms, in Epping Forest, Essex, which Propel understands it is regularly trading at over six figures. Heartwood currently has 176 rooms trading and a further 36 to open in the spring. The group already has seven sites confirmed for opening in 2025 – The Prince of Wales in East Barnet, London; The Old Crown in Great Bookham, Surrey; The George & Dragon in Marlow, Buckinghamshire; The Ragged Robin in Godalming; The Woodman in Southgate; The White Hart in Lymington and The Red Lion in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

 

Burger concept Smoke & Pepper lines up six new locations as it ramps up growth within and outside London: Smoke & Pepper, the London burger concept, has lined up six new locations as it ramps up its growth both within and outside the capital. The business, which was founded by Sara Ibrahim and Suhail Mala, launched in 2022, in Leyton, east London. It last year added a second east London location, in Bow, before making its regional debut, at Transmission House in Manchester’s Tib Street. The company has now lined up further regional openings, in Birmingham and Milton Keynes, as well as more London locations – in Hounslow, Gants Hill, Wembley and Dalston. A company spokesman said: “We’re not slowing down, we’re just getting started. After setting the bar high with our flagship in Manchester, we’re now locking in exciting new locations, and the momentum is only growing. And we’re far from done – the demand keeps growing, and we’re making sure Smoke & Pepper is there to meet it.” Franchise consultant Paul Davies, at Brand Mark Franchising, added: “At end March 2025, around 35 territories have been taken across England & Wales – that’s 12 months, with very little marketing. Word of mouth from happy franchisees and customers alike have turned Smoke & Pepper into the UK’s strongest propositions.”

 

Sarah Weir steps down as managing director of Albion & East: Sarah Weir, founder and managing director of Albion & East, the Imbiba-backed London bar group, has left the four-strong business to set up her own marketing and design agency, Every Small Story, Propel has learned. Weir, a former marketing director at Mitchells & Butlers and operations director at Davy’s of London, founded Albion & East in 2016 with the backing of Imbiba, to grow an estate of urban bars located in London “villages”. Earlier this year, the company sold its site in Hackney, Martello Hall in Mare Street, to Urban Pubs & Bars, for a premium, following the October Budget announcement and coupled with a rent increase. The business currently operates Canova Hall, Serata Hall, Teatro Hall and Botanica Hall, all situated in London. In the year to 25 June 2024, the company opened Botanica Hall in Clapham Junction and said it has “traded, and continues to trade, well ahead of expectations”. During the year, it also took “the difficult decision to close our site Pacifica” in Brixton. The company said: “As a result of the openings and closings above, turnover for the year was flat at £8.7m (2023: £8.7m) and gross margins, including labour costs, for the year were £4,097,894 compared to £4,106,622 in the prior year. This was a good result given the continuing inflationary pressures on the business of food, drink and labour. Company Ebitda for the period was £24,499 (2023: (£67,316)) and site Ebitda was £886,508 (2023: £790,148). The loss for the period, after taxation, amounted to £481,663 (2023: loss of £921,882).” 

Italian gelato brand Amorino opens second store in London’s Hampstead: Italian gelato brand Amorino has opened its second store in the Hampstead area of north London. It has opened at 160 West End Lane in West Hampstead, joining the nearby store it opened at 38 Hampstead High Street in May 2024. It is a 33rd UK location overall for the brand – with 27 in Greater London plus regional sites in Cambridge, Canterbury, Bath, Cardiff, Leeds and York. Propel revealed earlier this month that Amorino has lined up further openings in London’s Knightsbridge and in Essex’s Lakeside shopping centre. The West Hampstead store is also a 19th UK location for Amorini’s UK master franchisee, Hubert Attali.

 

Ex-Oakman chief investment officer Steve Kenee joins NRG Gyms as CFO: Former Oakman Inns & Restaurants chief investment officer Steve Kenee has joined gym group NRG Gyms as its new chief financial officer. Kenee joins the company, of which he has been a non-executive director since summer 2023, after two years with Sapient, the corporate finance advisory firm in the UK pubs and brewing sector, as a director. In three years with Oakman, Kenee helped the business navigate the covid pandemic, raised significant debt and equity and played a key role in facilitating the growth of the business from 24 to 38 sites. He was previously a partner and head of the hospitality and leisure team at investment manager Downing, leading the firm’s private equity investments in the hospitality sector. In January, NRG Gyms, which has six locations across the UK, secured a £4m investment. The company, founded in 2013 by Shafiq Ahmed, received the cash injection from Puma Growth Partners. The funds will support NRG in expanding its portfolio of gyms across the UK and the use of data and analytics to improve the guest experience of its circa 30,000 members. 

 

Rudy’s to open new site in Leamington Spa this week: Rudy’s Pizza Napoletana, the Mission Mars-owned brand, is to open its new site in Leamington Spa this week. Propel reported in January that Rudy’s was set to open in the former Bodega Cantina site at 108 Parade in the Warwickshire town. The 3,638 square-foot restaurant, which will have capacity for approximately 90 covers, will open on Saturday (5 April). Earlier this month, Propel revealed Rudy’s is lining up a debut site in the south west, with plans to open in the former Royal Bank of Scotland site in Baldwin Street. The 30-strong Rudy’s most recently opened sites in Prestwich and Newcastle and has further openings in the pipeline – in Cambridge, West Bridgford and Brighton. Last month, Roy Ellis, chief executive of Mission Mars, told Propel the increased costs from the Budget had not “changed the shape of our pipeline yet” for the 30-strong Rudy’s.

Bootlegger Bars begins MD search: Bootlegger Bars – the prohibition era-themed pub concept from former New York bar owner Lee Miller – has begun the search for a managing director to lead the business on its next stage of growth. The business, which opened its seventh site earlier this month, in Bath, said: “We are very excited to announce that as Bootlegger Bars progresses on its strategy, we are now recruiting a full-time managing director to lead the business on a permanent basis. It’s a great testimony to progress on the plan that we find ourselves in this position ahead of schedule.” The company announced last November the successful closure of a £2m funding round led by SVN Capital, an investment firm based in Dubai, which it said would enable it to expand its footprint and enhance its offerings. Having launched in 2014, Bootlegger Bars has venues in Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Leeds, and last summer opened its sixth site and first in London, in Richmond. The business, which is led by chief executive Karen Bosher, recently opened on the former Circo Bar site in Bath’s George Street. As part of its ongoing expansion, Bootlegger Bars said it is actively seeking unique bar venues in cities across the UK, including Manchester, Liverpool,and Nottingham, and is “interested in speaking with bar owners considering an exit in 2025”.

FoodCo UK opens 20th Jamaica Blue here, six more to follow this spring: FoodCo UK, which operates the Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue brands in the UK, has opened its 20th Jamaica Blue site here, with six more to follow this spring. Its latest opening, a 2,500 square-foot corner site in Bromley’s Glades shopping centre, also showcased Jamaica Blue’s new design. Over the next three months, FoodCo UK will also be opening Jamaica Blues in Bracknell, Watford, Worcester, Tunbridge Wells, Ipswich and Bangor in Northern Ireland. In December, FoodCo UK opened its 70th UK Muffin Break, in Bolton’s the Market Place, and said it has eight sites under offer over both brands. The group launched here in 2001 as the UK arm of the Australian FoodCo business, which was founded in 1989 and has more than 550 locations across eight countries.

Innventure – cost pressures have reduced profits but sales levels have recovered: Innventure, the eight-strong gastro-operator led by former Mitchells & Butlers executive Chris Gerard and his wife Fiona, has said cost pressures reduced its profit but sales levels recovered in the year to 30 June 2024. The company’s pre-tax profit dropped from £184,801 in 2023 to £79,933. Its turnover increased from £8,206,724 to £8,527,636. No dividend was paid (2023: nil). Chris Gerard said: “Higher operating cost and interest costs have reduced year over year profits from the extraordinary performance of prior years. However, it is pleasing to record the recovery of sales levels.”

 

Boss Pizza to open in Milton Keynes this summer: Franchise pizza concept Boss Pizza, founded during the pandemic by Ajmal Mushtaq, will open in Milton Keynes this summer. It has secured a site within Milton Keynes’ new Secklow Gate residential development, in the city centre. Earlier this month, Propel also revealed that Boss Pizza is lining up a launch in Nottingham this summer. Mushtaq, who previously operated acclaimed Indian restaurant Mushtaqs in Hamilton, launched Boss Pizza with two stores in Scotland – in Hamilton and Larkhall. The concept made its English debut last year with a launch in Acton, west London, which is temporarily closed. Last month, in partnership with franchisee HLN Group, Boss Pizza opened its second store in England, in Walsall. This will be followed with openings in Colchester and Bradford in mid-April, before returning to Scotland for a launch in Glasgow, and then back to England to open in Oldham in mid-May.

 

Masala Zone owner sees turnover exceed pre-covid levels to hit record £31.4m: MW Eat, which is behind eight Indian restaurants including the Masala Zone business, has reported turnover increased to £31,372,050 for the year ending 31 March 2024 compared with £26,330,743 the previous year. Revenue also exceeded the £27,958,564 reported for the year ending 31 March 2019 – the last full year before the covid pandemic. Pre-tax profit was up to £3,376,685 from £1,198,278 the year before (2019: profit of £3,955,479). In his report accompanying the accounts, chairman and co-owner Ranjit Mathrani stated: “In line with the vast majority of businesses in the hospitality sector in Central London, the after-effects of covid-19 in respect of staff shortages and the work-from-home culture, as well as energy price increases have had a significant impact on the company. However, we are significantly more profitable and cashflow positive than the previous year, and we are confident that we will have sufficient resources available to trade comfortably for the foreseeable future.” A dividend of £400,000 was paid (2023: nil). Earlier this month, Mathrani told The Telegraph that MW Eat would have to cut 5% of its workforce – around 25 jobs – as a result of the increased labour costs arising from the Budget.

M&B exits All Bar One site in Brighton: Mitchells & Butlers has exited its All Bar One site in Brighton. The long leasehold of 2-3 Pavilion Buildings has been sold to Café Domenica, which will be part of a new educational and training hub operated by Team Domenica, a charity dedicated to empowering young people with learning disabilities through employment programmes. Situated beside The Royal Pavilion in Brighton’s cultural quarter, the property is positioned just off North Street and covers 1,075 square-metres across a basement, ground floor, and two upper levels. Team Domenica founder and chairman, Baroness Rosa Monckton MBE, said: “This will put Team Domenica, and our candidates, at the very heart of Brighton in a spectacular and historic building. More than just a space, it will be a beacon of hope and opportunity, proving what people with learning disabilities can achieve when given the right support, respect and belief.” Fleurets acted on the deal.