Harry Ramsden ’ s
Interior of Harry Ramsden ’ s restaurant
“ Once we believed we had the right proposition in place , it was then a case of convincing the shareholders to invest in the business to allow it to grow properly ”
– Joe Teixeira
Franchising The main driver behind a franchising strategy is the ability to react to market needs quickly and effectively , with Teixeira identifying a gap in the market for a branded , ethical fish and chip organisation .
“ We always knew that franchising was the best strategy to take us forward ,” the CEO explained . “ Opening a lot of new company stores requires a lot of fast capital expenditure , but if you have capable and experienced franchisees , you then have someone who you know will absolutely care for your brand because it ’ s their hard cash going into it .
“ It is the fastest growth to market without diluting the proposition , we ’ ve hit at the right time of the economic cycle and there is a lot of interest in our business .”
The goal is to have 250 sites in place by 2019 , and the company is already well on track , having development agreements across Scotland , Yorkshire , West Sussex and the North East of England for 150 sites .
The only challenge in that respect now comes from selecting the right people to partner with as the pace accelerates ; an example of which can be seen in the company ’ s recently secured agreement with Welcome Break MSA to develop up to 26 outlets .
“ I ’ m trying to avoid handing out single franchisees because it ’ s very difficult to manage 500 different partners .” Teixeira
56 October 2014