Barburrito sales soar ahead of London debut
BARBURRITO, the growth-hungry North West food business is in “great shape” ahead of its launch in London.
Co-founder Morgan Davies said the six-strong Manchester-based chain’s sales are between 15-20% ahead on a like-for-like basis and had strengthened its senior team after a milestone year which saw it secure more than £3m from the Business Growth Fund.
To celebrate the fund-raising and strong trading Barburrito gave away 2,012 burritos at its Manchester restaurant on Thursday, to the delight of scores of office workers and shoppers.
Mr Davies, a former management consultant, founded Barburrito with Paul Kilpatrick in 2005 and sealed the deal with the Business Growth Fund in early April.
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We wanted to do something to celebrate this year, with the Jubilee, Olympics and our investment. It has been a great year so far for the business and we’re excited by the launch in London this autumn.”
Although tight-lipped on the precise location of the first London site, he said it would be in a high footfall location, such as in a major railway station concourse or in the City of London.
“We are excited by London – its a different market to the rest of the country and there is huge competition for the best sites. Many of the national chains have retrenched to London, so it’s hyper-competitive.
“By this time next year I’d like to have three London restaurants open, but we’d also look at a second site in Leeds and Liverpool too, and maybe Birmingham – but we don’t want to stretch ourselves too much operationally.”
Now operating from offices at Quay House – Barburrito shares a suite with another small Manchester-based restaurant chain, Tampopo – the £4m turnover business has strengthened its management team since the BGF investment.
A new financial controller, Scott Symmons, has arrived along with a new head of HR, marketing co-ordinator and most recently an operations manager for London.
“We are a lean team – all our money is made in the restaurants, but as we grow – and we have 100 staff now – we had to strengthen our head office function.”
Although burritos were a new concept when Barburrito launched, a number of competitors have emerged in the last few years, including major US chain Chipotle, which has 1,000 restaurants in North America, and has recently opened in London.
Mr Davies said: “Competition is good, we have confidence in our brand and product as well, and I believe we will benefit from their investment as people will become more aware of burtitos, which is good.”
