Byron operator Famously Proper has closed all but one of its dark kitchens, citing a decrease in delivery volumes and a difficulty in securing staff.
Second brand Mother Clucker is still being served for delivery across the majority of Byon’s now 21-strong estate, but three independently run kitchens and three Deliveroo Editions kitchens have been shut, with one dark kitchen remaining in Wood Green.
Meanwhile CEO Gavin Cox, who was speaking after opening a flagship Mother Clucker restaurant in Upper Street, Islington, told MCA the group was looking open a number of new sites under the fried chicken brand before Christmas, with hopes to grow the estate to 50 restaurants.
Cox said: “During the pandemic, delivery was the main driver. But we found delivery was dropping and also with the labour market, it became more and more difficult. You have to pay more and more to get people into that working environment.
“When you ask people, where would you like to work, in a dark kitchen or in a restaurant, they prefer a restaurant.
“We found retaining staff quite difficult. It was a lot of hard work. With the cost of labour going up, and the volumes slowly diminishing, it became an uneconomical model.
“From what we’ve seen and what we hear is, that’s generally what our competitive set are finding too.”
Cox added Famously Proper could return to dark kitchens in the future: “When we look at plans, and how we drive the business forward, with either an additional brand or additional categories, that would be a key area for us to try those things.”
On expanding Mother Clucker, he added: “We’ve already got a number of locations that we will look to roll out, and we would ideally do that before Christmas.
“What we wanted to do is make sure that we really understood what works and what doesn’t work, so that when we roll it out, we’re able to roll it out fast.
“The vision for Byron, like Mother Clucker is to expand.”
Mother Clucker, which was founded in 2013 by Ross Curnow and Brittney Bean, previously had a number of food truck and street food pitches in London, a site at Stanstead Airport, and a restaurant in Clerkenwell.
Famously Proper acquired the brand in May 2021, with some of the old sites not part of the deal.
Upper Street marks the first bricks and mortar restaurant under the new ownership, promising the original tea-brined, buttermilk fried chicken recipe, but with an expanded offering and evolved branding.
New additions include fried chicken with bacon and waffles, a vegan wrap offering and ‘hot boxes’ for delivery drivers and click & collect.
