Eat restaurants show appetite for expansion
SANDWICH chain Eat is to treble in size over the next few years as it embarks on a rapid overhaul and expansion strategy.
Chief executive Adrian Johnson, former UK managing director of Whitbread’s Costa Coffee, told The Mail on Sunday that he could see the potential for at least 300 Eat stores in the UK.
‘The market is ripe for the brand to take market share from our competitors,’ he said.
The chain, backed by Lyceum Capital, recently arranged a £40million refinancing with private investment group Ardian and is currently spending around £12million on refurbishing and updating its 112 stores.
‘While the food had a loyal following the stores were underinvested and were quite dark and off-putting,’ said Johnson. ‘We’re now making them more light and opening up the kitchens so people can see hot food being prepared.’
The company will then embark on a programme of expansion. It is planning to spend £12.5 million on opening at a rate of ‘at least 30 a year’ according to Johnson.
Eat is about to open a new store at London’s Heathrow Airport. It will be the first to have selfservice tills for people who are in a hurry.
The company, founded in 1996 by husband-and-wife team Niall and Faith MacArthur who are still non-executive directors, sells 6.5 million cups of coffee a year and 862,000 ham and jarlsberg baguettes, its best-selling food product. It has also moved into salads, soups and hot breakfasts. The chain introduces a dozen new products each month.
The High Street coffee and sandwich market is now worth around £6 billion in the UK as food companies rush to meet demand from busy office workers. Eat’s many competitors are all opening new stores to tap into this growing market.