Greene King 'meet and eat' franchise key for company in 2012
The concept was launched in early 2011 and the pub company and brewer expect to have 40 sites operating by April 2012. However Greene King says the potential is for 100 refurbished sites to be opened within their Pub Partners pub estate.
Greene King’s franchises are offered on a 10 year rolling basis and in return for an investment franchisees get a full food and drink menu, full training as no experience in the industry is required and support in marketing and the day to day logistics of running a successful pub.
As well as arguing franchise business models have a better hope of success in tough economic times, Greene King says the concept is becoming more integral to their own business model.
Franchises key to Greene King estate aims
Simon Longbottom, managing director of Greene King Pub Partners said: "Our aim is to build the highest quality, most customer-focused non-managed pub estate in the UK and we’ll achieve this by recruiting and retaining the best licensees and delivering industry-leading agreement innovation such as the Meet & Eat franchise concept."
The operator says that banks and lenders continue to look more favourably on a franchise business plan and a fifth of franchisees actually go on to open a second unit. One of the most recent pubs to open under the franchise scheme was The Gemini in Dereham, Norfolk which relaunched at the end of December.
Greene King currently operate around 1,400 pubs in England. Last year BigHospitality reported that in 2010 food related sales represented 60 per cent of sales across the Greene King estate.
