Former Benugo man plans patriotic cafe chain

REX: The Great British Cafe aims to reinvent the concept of the British café to create bright, all-day dining venues offering simple, freshly prepared food.

Like the successful South West-based Loungers group, Mark Ashley – whose CV includes head of hospitality for Marks & Spencer and chief operating officer for Virgin Active – plans to target the suburbs of large cities and towns, and is not looking at central sites for the time being.

“It’s a market that is often ignored,” he said. “We’re looking to attract a diverse range of customers and establish REX as a quality local amenity.”

The first site – in Muswell Hill, north London – opened late last month. Ashley plans to open several more in north London before heading to south London and, eventually, the rest of the UK.

Potential to grow​

The sites will be funded by a network of private backers, and Ashley thinks the REX brand has the potential to grow to 50 sites.

Le Gavroche alumni Christian Delteil – who used to run Bank Aldwych – is a consultant. He’s developed an all-day menu centred on high quality British ingredients.

Ashley said: “The menu is designed to appeal to different people with different needs at different times. Breakfast for some is a cappuccino, for others it’s a full English.

“For lunch and dinner, we’ll do a decent range of hot food such as home-made steak and kidney pies, salads or maybe a spiced duck
breast – and we’ll offer tea and cakes in the afternoon.”