POD, the healthy fast food concept led by founder and chief executive Tim Hall, has opened its 20th site in London and said it plans to accelerate its growth plans even further over the next 12 months, helped by an increase in sales of hot food.
The group’s 20th site opened in Monument this week and it now plans to accelerate its growth plans so that it reaches 30 stores within the next 12 months. It plans to grow to an estate of 40-50 sites by 2014.
The company has also announced the appointment of Katy Emson as its first Director of Marketing. Emson, who trained at CHI & Partners, is currently a senior brand manager at Danone.
Hall told M&C Report: “It’s a big achievement to have got to 20 sites in just 6 years as an entirely independent operation. The new site serves a mixture of tourist and local office customers in this famous location and supplies the continued growing demand we’re experiencing for our pioneering healthy fast food offer. As sandwich shops expand their use of open cabinets to hold hot food, customers tell us they want hot food but don’t trust it being left to cool like this. We serve hot food to order, freshly from the kitchen at 70degrees, and sales are soaring as a result of this. Partly due to this, we’re looking to accelerate our growth plans such that we hit 30 stores within the next 12 months.
“Also I’m delighted to announce that Katy Emson is joining us from Danone in the position of Director of Marketing. Katy is a double first class honours graduate with a diploma in naturopathic nutrition as well as a series of IPA qualifications.
“We see the marketing and communications role as becoming increasingly central to business performance and have decided to invest in a highly qualified specialist who has the potential to make a real impact for us. It’s a great boost for us and the sector overall that we are able to attract talent of her calibre from an international FMCG specialist.”
