KFC to invest almost £1.5bn in the UK over the next five years: KFC has placed a big bet on Britain’s appetite for fried chicken by pledging to invest almost £1.5bn in the UK over the next five years. The brand, which celebrates its 60th birthday in the UK this year, plans to invest £1.49bn towards growing its 1,000-strong estate and upgrading many of its existing restaurants, which it estimates will create thousands of new jobs. KFC will spend £466m on expanding the number of restaurants it operates in the UK and Ireland by a further 500 over the next decade, focusing on building sites and drive-thrus in key locations for the business such as Ireland and the north west. It is also to invest in upgrading more than 200 existing restaurants, which make up 20% of its estate, reports The Times. Through this expansion, KFC said it would create more than 7,000 new jobs within its UK and Ireland business and across its supply chain over the next five years, including kitchen-based roles and restaurant managers. Rob Swain, general manager of KFC UK and Ireland, said the group had “never seen such strong demand for freshly prepared fried chicken as we’re seeing today”. The fried chicken market in the UK is estimated to be worth £3.1bn, with new entrants to the market such as Popeyes, Wingstop, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Slim Chickens gaining cult status. Fierce competition is not putting off Swain, however, who believes that KFC, “as the market leader” is “incredibly well positioned to unlock this opportunity”. He said: “That’s why we’re doubling down on our commitment to the UK and Ireland with a major investment in our restaurants and in the suppliers who have been so crucial to our success.” KFC estimates that the investment will contribute a gross value added boost of £169m to the UK economy over the next five years. KFC features in the Premium Club Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club members and features 1,108 companies. KFC’s turnover of £294,511,000 in the year to 24 December 2023 is the 44th highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Premium Club members to receive updated segmented Multi-Site Database with 3,401 operators and 18 new companies on Friday: Premium Club members are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database on Friday (30 May), at 12pm. The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,401 multi-site operators and is searchable in seven main segments. The database features 994 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 797 (23%) pub and bar operators, 578 (17%) cafe bakery operators, 474 (14%) quick service restaurant (QSR) operators, 288 (8%) hotel operators, 221 (6%) experiential leisure operators and 54 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 18 new companies. The database includes new companies in the QSR sector such as Drip Chicken, the hot chicken concept, and Catch Fish and Chips, from the founder of Lucky B’s. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Operational Excellence Conference in July and discounts on specialist sector reports. 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.

Paula MacKenzie – we’re trying to bring the 2025 version of PizzaExpress to life: PizzaExpress chief executive Paula MacKenzie has said the business is “trying to bring the 2025 version of PizzaExpress to life”. PizzaExpress, which turns 60 this year, has stood the test of time, surviving dining trends and downturns and, more recently, a big restructuring, reports The Times. It changed the face of the dining scene in Britain in the 1960s, bringing a dash of Italian flair to the high streets when options were more or less limited to fine dining or a greasy spoon. Although the brand remains a beloved institution in Britain – it sold 18.4 million pizzas from its restaurants last year and another 22 million from supermarkets – its future requires a tricky balancing act between nostalgia, reinvention and survival in a post-pandemic dining world. To mark its 60th birthday, In March, PizzaExpress reverted to its prices from 1965, the year its founder, Peter Boizot, opened the first restaurant in London’s Soho. Alongside such promotions, a fashion line and a special menu re-imagining some of its classic dishes, MacKenzie has spent almost three years revitalising the brand – refurbishing about three quarters of the chain’s 358 restaurants, creating new formats and capitalising on customers’ loyalty. “What we are trying to show is that there is a contemporary version of PizzaExpress and not just the one that people might remember from the past,” MacKenzie said. PizzaExpress began when Boizot returned to the UK in 1965 after working in Europe for a decade and noticed that he could not find authentic pizza. He brought back a pizza oven from Naples and discovered a run-down restaurant called Pizza Express on Wardour Street in Soho, and snapped up the name and the pizzeria. “Up until that point there was only fine dining and PizzaExpress made dining out affordable to the middle classes,” said MacKenzie, who became chief executive in June 2022. “How many British brands are still here and thriving and vibrant 60 years later? What I think you really have to do is bring the 2025 version of that to life.” Ownership has passed through several hands since Boizot began selling down his stake in the 1980s, which came to a head in 2019, when a combination of successive sales to private equity firms, aggressive expansion strategies and a challenging market environment helped it to amass a £1.1bn debt pile. A resulting restructuring saw the group’s total debt fell from £735m to £319m and received an immediate cash injection of £40m, with a further £90m available for investment. “Our shareholders are comfortable with where we are at,” MacKenzie said, pointing to the company’s recent refinancing, in which it reached a deal to raise £20m in fresh equity from shareholders and pay down £55m of debt – arguing that the deal “shows that people have confidence in what we are doing”. In the year to the end of December 2024 it made a pre-tax loss of £31.8m on sales of £442.1m, whereas in 2019, its pre-tax losses stacked up to £348m. Meanwhile, the pizza scene is more crowded than ever, but MacKenzie does not seem worried about the growing competition, as she believes it “only makes the category stronger”. She said: “I’m very pro-entrepreneur so if someone wants to come in and set up that’s great. That’s what Peter did back in the day.” The competition is not putting PizzaExpress off its ambitious plans to reach 1,000 restaurants globally by 2030, after closing 73 as part of a company voluntary arrangement in 2020. She believes there are pockets of the UK that Pizza Express can still exploit and lauds the success of some of its recent openings. In Winchester, the company relocated its restaurant to a former Debenhams shop, and the site has made more than twice what it did in the old one, “proving to ourselves that demand is there”. Travel hubs are another area of expansion, as is its new grab-and-go brand, PizzaExpress Pod. The company, which has about a hundred international and franchise sites including in Hong Kong, the UAE, India and Spain, believes that a push into the United States, where it will open its first restaurants in Florida this year, will be crucial in fulfilling the target. Although its first attempt to crack America in the late 1990s was short-lived, that does not seem to worry MacKenzie. She said: “Just because you’ve tried something once, doesn’t mean you can’t try again.” MacKenzie believes the company is in a “healthier place than it’s ever been” and added: “I like a challenge. I have always loved this brand. I didn’t want to see it struggle or not be as brilliant as it can be.” 

M&B turning away from late-night market as younger people shun nights out and stay at home instead: The UK’s late night economy is facing a downturn as younger generations increasingly opt for social media and home deliveries over traditional nights out, according to the head of one of Britain’s largest pub and bar operators. Family-oriented occasions like Mother’s Day and Easter have now become the primary drivers of increased footfall for many chains, reports The Independent. So much so that Mitchells & Butlers, chief executive Phil Urban stated that the company will not seek expansion in the late-night market due to the significant challenges it presents. “The toughest part of the market right now is late night,” Urban told the PA news agency. He added, expressing relief at the company’s limited exposure to the struggling sector: “We’re certainly not exposed like pure, late-night operators are, so we’re quite thankful for that. I think social media means that you don’t have to do that to stay in touch with your friends.” The booming takeaway and home delivery market was also having an influence, he suggested, adding: “People are often meeting beforehand to have something to eat, having a few drinks at home, before going out. So, those pure late night, club operators, have certainly got a smaller market. We wouldn’t go back into that sort of club market, it’s not for us, because I do think it’s going to take a long while to reverse – if it does.” He said all the company’s brands were “doing well”, but that its Irish pub and bar chain O’Neill’s was “probably having the toughest time” due to its exposure to the night-time industry.

Whitbread confirms appointment of Christine Hodgson as new chair from September: Whitbread has confirmed the appointment of Christine Hodgson as its new chair, effective from 1 September. Propel reported earlier this month that Hodgson, the chair of Severn Trent, the FTSE-100 water company, had been selected as the preferred candidate to replace Adam Crozier. Whitbread has now confirmed Hodgson will take up the post when Crozier step down as chair and retires from the board on 1 September. Crozier joined the board in April 2017, and during this tenure, Whitbread has evolved into a focused hotel business with a clear strategy centred on becoming Europe’s number one budget hotel business. Hodgson said: “Whitbread is a business with strong brands, an experienced leadership team and 34,000 committed team members across the organisation. It’s an exciting time to be joining, as the company continues to deliver on its five-year plan, and Premier Inn’s expansion in Germany gathers pace. I look forward to leading the board and working alongside the talented teams as we unlock the group’s full potential.” Crozier added: “It has been a privilege to lead the Whitbread board through this period of growth and change. I’m proud that as I leave the business, we are on course for Premier Inn to become Europe’s number one budget hotel business. I wish Christine and everyone in the business every success in the future.”

Domino’s welcomes new independent NED as former interim CEO steps down: Domino’s Pizza Group has appointment Robyn Perriss as an independent non-executive director. Perriss will be a member of the board’s audit committee, remuneration committee, sustainability committee and nomination and governance committee. Perriss is a chartered accountant who previously held senior finance roles with Autotrader UK and Rightmove, both of which have digitally focused business models. She was finance director of Rightmove from 2013 to 2020 and is currently a non-executive director of Dr Martens, Next 15 Group and Softcat. Domino’s has also announced that Elias Diaz Sese will step down as a non-executive director. Sese has served on the board since October 2019 and served as interim chief executive from October 2022 to August 2023. He is stepping down in order to spend more time on his other business interests. Both board changes will take effect from 1 July 2025. Chair Ian Bull said: “I am delighted to welcome Robyn to the board of Domino’s. Robyn has a strong track record of working in consumer-centric, digitally led companies, and her breadth of experience will be a great addition to our board. Elias’ industry experience and knowledge have been invaluable to Domino’s over the past six years. We are grateful to Elias for his contribution to the board, and especially for stepping in as interim chief executive in 2022. He leaves the board with our thanks and good wishes for the future.”

Rick Stein to open Sydney restaurant: Rick Stein is set to open a restaurant at the recently announced InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, adding to his Mollymook and Port Stephens venues at Bannisters hotels, opened in 2009 and 2018 respectively. The 224-seat Rick Stein at Coogee Beach, due to open in November, will offer “refined beachside dining that showcases the best Australian regional and local produce across an array of experiences from casual to upmarket”. Stein said: “Coogee Beach is yet another stunning coastal location for our Australian restaurant portfolio. It’s especially meaningful for me as my wife, Sas, grew up in Sydney, so opening a restaurant in her hometown makes this venture all the more special for us both. There’s an abundance of top-quality seafood in Australia and we’ll be championing local, seasonal produce.” The menu will feature local seafood including mahi mahi caught off the coast of Nelson Bay, Stockton Pipis from Port Stephens, line-caught Mackerel from Ulladulla and Nelson Bay Blue Swimmer Crab.

Britain named Europe’s work from home capital: Britain has been named Europe’s work from home capital, with employees spending more days away from the office than in any other nation on the continent. Workers in the UK spend an average of 1.8 days working from home each week, according to a new report from King’s College London, which was more time than all nations bar Canada – at 1.9 days – among the 40 nations studied. Britain’s work from home average was the highest in Europe and well above the global average of 1.3 days working from home each week. Workers in South Korea average half a day at home per week, with those in Greece and China typically putting in 0.6 days remotely, the King’s study found. This rises to one day in France, 1.2 in Australia and 1.6 in Germany and the US. The persistence of home working since the covid lockdowns is “becoming a defining feature of the UK labour market,” said Cevat Aksoy, the lead researcher on the report. “This isn’t just a post-pandemic hangover – British workers have clearly decided they’re not going back to the old ways.”