Pieminister, the pie shop brand, is to ramp up its presence in the pub sector with the launch of a full brand licence, which includes the design of a permanent Pieminister open kitchen and marketing support.
The new move is step on from the Pieminister branded menu, the group, which currently operates 12 stores and has a presence in 10 pubs, launched in the second half of last year.
At the same time, the company has strengthened its pipeline with four new openings lined up in Brighton, Edinburgh, Leeds and Nottingham.
The group, which was established in 2003 by Bristolian entrepreneurs Jon Simon and Tristan Hogg, plans to double the size of its estate over the next four years.
Speaking at the latest MA300 event in Bristol, Hogg said: “What we currently do in pubs is give people a whole menu and some operational support. It’s a complete menu and works really simply. We show people how to use it and set up their kitchen.
“We are now offering a full brand licence. That gives people the ability to have a licence to sell pies. What that includes is the design of a permanent Pieminister open kitchen, enabling you to serve the full Pieminister menu, which is taken directly from our shops.
“As a brand licence partner you benefit from exactly the same support we give our shops. Set up operations, manuals, launch marketing support, ongoing business standards, service reviews, secret shoppers, menu refreshers on an ongoing basis etc.
“Essentially it’s a franchise. You would be seen by Pieminister and the consumer as a Pieminister outlet.
“In terms of costs, we try to keep things simple. Wholesale pie price, nominal set-up fee depending on size of the kitchen, then there’s an ongoing royalty for sale, which it’s in our interest to keep pushing and making that work for everyone.
“If you operate premium outlets or have a space that could be a premium outlet that would appeal to young corporate singles then we would like to talk to you. If you own sites that are predominantly wet-led or in key cities then this would be a good fit for you.”
