All Wagamama articles – Page 12
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NewsHead of corporate development at Warrens Bakery departs
Andy Hulbert, head of corporate development, at Warrens Bakery has left his role to establish his own franchise and business consultancy, Bee Smart.
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NewsLoungers raises £83m through IPO
Loungers, the 146-strong café-bar group, has announced it has raised £83.3m through its IPO with admission to AIM on 29 April.
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NewsEx-Pret exec Selin joins Wagamama
Wagamama has further strengthened its management team with the appointment of former Pret executive, Johanna Selin, MCA understands.
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OpinionCulture wars
This week Gordon Ramsay’s latest Lucky Cat was slammed for its ‘authentic Asian’ offering, while Aldo Zilli claimed only Italian chefs should cook in Italian restaurants. To help navigate the cultural appropriation minefield, MCA’s Finn Scott-Delany spoke to contributing editor Peter Martin and Mowgli’s Nisha Katona.
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NewsTamatanga kickstarts organic expansion
Tamatanga, the Indian casual dining restaurant, is opening its third site, in Leicester’s Highcross, with further sites lined up in Manchester and Leeds in 2020, MCA has learnt.
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Analysis & Insight
Going Global: All gone to look for America
In the first of a two-part column on international expansion, Jasper Reid looks at the big prize for many operators – cracking the US – with some help from the A-Team of operators.
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Analysis & InsightTime for a chain reaction?
CVAs offer a lifeline for struggling chains. But long-term, can the very notion of a ‘quality chain’ survive this current casual dining crisis? In his monthly column for MCA’s sister-title Restaurant, Tony Naylor shares his, perhaps controversial, views.
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NewsFast food brands top fastest growth index
The top three fastest growing brands in the UK eating out sector in 2018 were fast food brands, the latest MCA data shows.
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NewsBenihana signs international expansion deals
Benihana, the Minor International-backed brand, has signed a host of international franchise deals, which will see it opening nine new sites.
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NewsWagamama lines up new NY opening after closing first site
Wagamama is to close its East Village restaurant in Manhattan but is opening a new spot in Midtown later this year.
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OpinionAnalysts corner: The Restaurant Group
Berenberg shares its views on how The Restaurant Group is faring at the beginning of what is an important year for the business.
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Analysis & InsightLoungers – the one and only?
This week, Loungers announced its much-anticipated intention to float. One line in the accompanying documentation caught the eye of MCA market insight director, Steve Gotham – that Loungers is “the only growing all-day operator of scale in in the UK with a strong reputation for value for money”. He delves into MCA’s wealth of data to determine whether this claim stacks up.
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NewsWagamama further strengthens head office
The Restaurant Group has appointed Ross Farquhar to the new role of chief marketing officer for Wagamama as it continues to strengthen the brand’s head office post acquisition.
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NewsIn pictures: Retailers' Retailer Awards 2019
Last week saw the best of the industry celebrate its achievements at MCA’s 21st annual Retailers’ Retailer Awards at The Guildhall in London. To view our gallery of pictures from the night, click here.
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Analysis & InsightWhat’s vision got to do with it?
Scooping the headline honour at last week’s Retailers’ Retailer of the Year awards, Jane Holbrook talked about her vision during her tenure at Wagamama to make it the best employer in the sector. On the back of this, MCA market insight director, Steve Gotham, delves into the art of creating a vision statement and how leading brands across the sector have expressed theirs.
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NewsHolbrook named Retailers’ Retailer of the Year
Jane Holbrook, who stepped down as chief executive of Wagamama at the turn of the year, has been voted by her peers as the industry’s most outstanding operator of the past 12 months.
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Analysis & InsightThai restaurant chains leading on rate of growth
The number of chain Thai restaurants have more than doubled over the past five years to December 2018 – up 123%, to 147 sites, with the Asian sector “ripe for further M&A activity”, according to CGA and AlixPartners’ latest Market Growth Monitor.
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Analysis & Insight
Analysts Corner: Irvine-Fortescue on UK pubs & restaurants
Mark Irvine-Fortescue, who recently joined Stifel from Panmure Gordon, writes that in a lacklustre operating environment, pub and restaurant equity performance will be driven by companies’ ability to flex balance sheets, as the US investment bank relaunches coverage of the UK leisure sector.
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OpinionTaking a Fresca look at Carluccio’s 2.0
Carluccio’s post-CVA Fresca programme – designed at reconnecting with the modern consumer base – is currently being trialled at its Richmond restaurant. MCA market insight director Steve Gotham visited the site to give his view on the progress and what lessons for the wider casual dining market can be taken away.
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Analysis & InsightBig no longer beautiful among casual restaurant brands?
Are the days of restaurant brands growing to 100+ sites really over? MCA’s market insight director, Steve Gotham, takes a look at what can be learnt from the chains that have already surpassed this milestone and who has the potential to be the next centurion of casual dining.