Hugh Osmond, the executive chairman and new owner of Strada, has told M&C Report that there is no limit to what the brand can achieve.
Osmond’s Sun Capital Partners vehicle acquired the 43-strong brand from Tragus for £37m in September. He said that the next 12 months is “about making sure that the core concept, however the radical the change is, works”.
He said: “But I don’t see why our ambition level shouldn’t be to be as big as a Nando’s or PizzaExpress or bigger. I think in the end Strada could have a wider appeal than a PizzaExpress.”
Osmond, the high-profile sector investor who founded Punch Taverns and floated PizzaExpress, is set to make a substantial investment in his new business, including plans to expand the brand.
He said: “I am not saying we are going to go really slow, because when we get it right, there is no limit to the ambition, but it will take as long as it takes to get the revised concept right, that is the priority. It is not about doing a quick fix job and blasting through.
“When we are confident that we have got not only the wrong bits fixed but has got a real soul and stands for something, then there is no limit to the ambition in terms of how big and how fast we can roll it out.”
Osmond also reiterated that Strada was a long term project.
He said: “It does nothing for me to just revive these 43 sites open another 20 and sell it to somebody. That is not the game, or my game. There would be no point in coming back, it would give me minor satisfaction if we did a good deal, but that’s not the point.
“The point for me is that these 43 sites are actually as good a platform that exists in the sector. They are absolutely fantastic. To get 43 with a combination of really good core sites in London and the sites that are out of town are perfect to test whether you have got something that does move out of town. We have just the right number for proof of concept.”
He did not rule out Sun Capital looking at other opportunities in the market place, but said: “I am very focused on Strada, that is not to say that we (Sun) wouldn’t look at something else, but I am fully concentrating on this project. It requires a lot of focus. I want to create something that has a point, which stands for something and can be big.”
