“You would pay a branding agency thousands to invent two guys like Ole & Steen. It made sense to shout about the people who started the business”. Alastair Gordon, the man responsible for rolling out Danish bakery chain Ole & Steen in the UK, is matter of fact about why everything about the concept was exported except its name.
“We figured out pretty quickly that no one could pronounce Lagkagehuset – I was a good guinea pig for that,” he admits. Just in case you’re planning a trip to Copenhagen, it sounds something like Lauw-ku-sa.
The history of Lagkagehust stretches back to 1991 when Ole Kristoffersen and Steen Skallebaek independently launched artisan bakeries in their respective bohemian enclaves of Denmark, specialising in high-end pastries and breads freshly baked every day. The pair eventually joined forces under the umbrella of Kristoffersen’s brand – which translates as layer cake house - and grew to 73 bakeries across the country.
Expand globally
The duo had long harboured ambitions to expand globally and settled on London as their first outpost. Chief executive Jasper Friis approached Gordon, best known to MCA readers for his work at Jamie’s Italian but who also brought German brand Vapiano to the UK, to come on board as operations director.
Gordon joined the company in October 2015 and the first UK site opened in St James’s Market in December of last year. The group is now up to five sites, with the launch in Nova, Victoria, the most recent. The brand received a PR coup at the end of last month when Prince Harry chose the Nova store as a venue for a discussion on mental health issues.
There are three further UK openings lined up for early 2018, including the brand’s first regional store. It has signed on a unit in Oxford Westgate for next year and will also open in London’s Wigmore Street in January and High Street Kensington towards the end of February. MCA understands the group has an additional site lined up in Westfield London.
Ole & Steen is also set to add to its international footprint next year with its first opening in New York, having recruited Gabriel Sorgi as it chief operating officer for the US.
In the UK the concept has taken the hero products of its Danish parent company but tweaked the format for UK audiences. Gordon explains: “Danes love their coffee but it isn’t the natural fit with pastries as over here. That’s something we have worked on.
“The beating heart of the business is always going to be the bakery but we spent a lot of time talking about how we could build a really brilliant food offer around that. We have kept that artisan feel and extended it to working with the best butchers and fishmongers to create a really well-rounded offer.”
Currently three of the stores have an in-house bakery with the entire estate supported by a central production facility in Park Royal, which Gordon says could support up to 30 stores. While that facility is entirely staffed by master bakers from Denmark, 85% of ingredients are sourced within the UK.
Beautiful spaces
The wide-ranging menu includes traditional Danish pastries such as kloben buns (soft bun with cardamom), Copenhagener (pastry with marzipan paste and light poppy seeds), and Christianshavner cakes (caramelized hazelnut base swirled with strawberry mousse and fresh fruit). There is also a selection of focaccias, open sandwiches, stews and salads. Alongside the coffee and soft drinks offer there is an evening menu including wines and beers.
Describing the appeal of the concept to Brits, Gordon says: “The way Millennials are spending their time, they are looking for spaces where they feel comfortable and in which they can just come and have a cup of coffee, a delicious bite to eat and use their laptops. We have created beautiful spaces for people to do that in. We are not about herding people in and out, we have worked very hard to create spaces where people can linger. The world is rushing by and what we’re trying to create is something that is a bit of an oasis away from that craziness.”
Gordon admits that selling the brand to an unfamiliar audience among UK landlords was tough and that he had started “with a bag full of optimism and a landlord pack under my arm and went and knocked on doors”. However, he is now getting approaches from landlords, particularly those crafting new developments.
The Oxford offer was one such approach – through Nova owner Landsec. Gordon says the chance to co-locate with John Lewis in a high-profile development for an affluent catchment area was too good to refuse, but insists that regional expansion is not the immediate priority.
He says: “There is so much scope in London for us we really want to concentrate on that for the moment. It’s about finding the right places and making sure we stay true to the values of the wider business as we grow. We’re not in any rush. We’re well-backed and want to do this the right way.”
Gordon says the group has the flexibility to adapt its model to smaller footprint sites and says airports could be a key focus further down the line. However, he says transport hubs would probably not be the right fit. He is also adamant that the group will not go down the franchising route for fear of losing control of its brand values.
Trialling delivery
Unlike many of its competitors the group has not yet plunged headlong into the world of delivery. It has teamed up with City Pantry at its debut site and has a click and collect function on its website. It is also trialling its own delivery service within five minutes of its stores for orders of £50 and over. Gordon says the group will monitor the impact of this trial and look to add a wider delivery element to its app if the demand is demonstrable.
Earlier this year, long-term backers FSN Capital sold its majority stake in the parent company to Nordic Capital, who are, according to Gordon, equally as supportive of the international rollout and in tune with the company’s ethos. He adds: “To spend an afternoon with a private equity chairman and to be asked about people and what I want to do to support my people is very refreshing.”
The company plans to grow its estate to at least 10 by the end of 2018 and Gordon says this is just the beginning. “Ole & Steen are here for a long time. We’re not looking to ride any particular wave and expand beyond our means. We want to be a long-term player in the UK.”
