MEATliquor, the popular, fast-casual concept, is gearing up for further growth both in the UK and internationally, as it looks to open three new sites across two continents before the end of the year.
The group, which is led by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, will open in Islington next month, followed by Bristol in November, while a second site is being planned in Singapore for a possible launch in December.
Collins told M&C that the group was in talks on three further sites in and around London, and was set to look at opportunities in Bangkok and Hong Kong.
He also revealed that the company was in talks with interested parties regarding investing in the debt-free business and would be looking for a new home for its original site, after the NCP-operated car park at 74-77 Welbeck Street, under which it is housed was put up for sale.
The openings in Bristol and Islington were set to open earlier this year, but Collins said that the postponed launches of both had worked in the group’s favour.
He said: “It hasn’t been challenging, just like everything that has come about has been a happy accident, the obstacles that this year has thrown up have worked in our favour. That time has given us a lot of time to grow, my ops team, the way Yianni and I have divided our roles and we are ready for anything now.”
Earlier this year, the group launched a fundraising round with the aim of securing £7m of new funds. Collins said that the company, which is chaired by David Page, was “speaking to a couple of parties who are interested in getting involved, who could also bring a wealth of experience to the business”.
It has recently done a small fundraising purely to enable a share option scheme for key senior staff.
He said that the group’s first international site in Singapore, which was launched in partnership with the Blind Group, which is led by Jacques Dejardin, former operations director within Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, was performing “brilliantly”.
He said: “The team out there have excelled themselves. It looks like I will be off to Hong Kong and Bangkok later this month to look at sites there with the Blind Group because they want to push the business further in the region.”
The original MEATliquor in Welbeck Street, was only meant to operate for two years, but four years later, it is unclear how much longer it will remain in situ and what the plans for the property are from its prospective new owners.
Last month, landlord placed the entire property at 74-77 Welbeck Street on the market, with a £75m price tag placed on the prime 108,000sq ft corner site property near Bond Street Station and behind Debenhams.
