Market Halls is in negotiations for another venue near a major London train station, alongside two venues outside London, CEO Andy Lewis-Pratt tells MCA.
The Gees Court Partners-backed food hall operator will continue to target major city centre locations amid a goal of opening two to three sites per year. Target cities include Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“We’ve not seen a drop off in demand,” Lewis-Pratt says. “Our venues in central London are all performing well.
“Victoria is always busy and Canary Wharf has been fantastic since it opened. People still like our concept, with a choice of food, entertainment, and bars.
“The fundamentals are very strong for us.”
Market Halls reported 40% like-for-like growth and a 155% increase in sales to £22m yesterday (19 September) for the 12 months to July 2023.
The business announced its ambition to become the UK’s largest food hall operator.
“Food halls is a hugely fragmented market,” Lewis-Pratt adds. “It needs consolidation. That’s what we intend to do.
“Suburban doesn’t really work for us – we need a lot of footfall. If we open another 12-15 sites, we’re more likely to look at other parts of Europe.”
With two to three openings per year, the initial plan is to expand to 12 and “then see where we go,” according to him.
“We are investing in smaller formats…but we don’t want to be the anchor destination in a new scheme in an unproven location.
“We like proven locations…we wont compromise on location.”
Like-for-likes are 38% up in the first four weeks of the financial year, with the business trading well in July despite the weather, according to Lewis-Pratt.
“If we had good weather it would have been even better.”
One of the concept’s strength is its entertainment offer, while another strength is that its menu is “always up to date,” with a consistently rotating selection of food vendors. Fried chicken, Thai, and Malaysian offerings continue to perform well.
“We prefer not to go with a brand new starter…but we can afford to try something and see if it works, even if we’re not sure.”
The business continues to rely on London office workers during the week and tourists on weekends. Despite different trading patterns, little else has changed, Lewis-Pratt says.
“Our price point is relatively low,” he adds. “We’re open a bit later and offer food, drink, and entertainment for £30 a head.
“You can be entertained, have the flexibility of different food options, stay two to four hours, arrive in groups or by yourself, leave at different times.
“You have to offer your customer a lot more.”
