Restaurant group turns up the heat on expansion plans
RESTAURANT and bars group Thai Leisure has added to its recipe and increased its profits as it prepares to turn the heat up on its expansion plans.
The Chaophraya owner has a three-year plan to open 28 restaurants, driven by its street food brand Thaikhun, and pass £50m turnover. It secured £10m from Santander in April last year to support its growth strategy, which it summarises as a desire “to own Thai”.
Growth was strong in the year to July 2015, with sales increasing 29% to £28.3m. Pre-tax profits also increased, albeit more slowly, up 12% to £1.3m.
Co-owner Martin Stead said: “We are expecting another good result for this year with new openings performing well and to plan.
“The company has had a successful year in terms of both growth in revenue and profitability. We are confident in the ability of the business to meet its strategic plan with sustainable growth and profitability, being well funded, operating in tier one locations, meeting and exceeding customer expectations and having a great team.”
The group, which is owned by Mr Stead and his wife Kim Kaewkraikhot, launched its first Chaophraya restaurant in Leeds in 2004 and now has six restaurants under that brand in major cities in the North, Midlands and Scotland.
Four of those – Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh – have Palm Sugar bars next to their restaurants, while it has two ChaoBaby restaurants in shopping centres, at Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Sheffield’s Meadowhall.
In May 2014 it launched the first Thaikhun restaurant in Spinningfields, Manchester, to offer a more informal dining experience that appeals to the street food trend. Less than two years later it already has six, in 2015 spread the group’s geographic footprint further south, adding sites in Oxford and Cambridge.
It is looking to expand Thaikun into units of 3,000-4,000 sq ft in shopping centres and city centres across the UK.
