Little Chef shows appetite for growth

MICHELIN-starred world famous chef Heston Blumenthal has taken on a new challenge.

But this isn’t the kind of culinary venture you would normally associate with the owner of the internationally famous pub The Fat Duck, and a cook known for taking food to another level by applying scientific techniques to his recipes.

For Blumenthal has developed a menu for iconic roadside restaurant chain Little Chef in a trial which, if successful, could see his creations rolled out for diners across the country.

The trial venture, which is being run at Little Chef’s restaurant in Popham near Winchester and has seen Blumenthal revamp the restaurant’s famous Olympic Breakfast, is part of the Sheffield-based chain’s strategy to expand following a well-documented slump in its fortunes.

Little Chef is now owned by private equity firm R Capital which stepped in after the company went into administration in January 2007. Chief executive Ian Pegler was appointed in April this year.

Blumenthal’s menu, as well as the refurbished Popham restaurant, will feature in a Channel Four documentary series to be broadcast in the new year.

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Mr Pegler, who was previously executive director of Little Chef until 1994, said “the head said no but the heart said yes” when he was offered Blumenthal’s services. The heart won.

“Fourteen years ago I’d have said no to this kind of thing,” he says. “But I decided to grab this with both hands. But this is no PR stunt.”

The trial comes in tandem with a new menu across the restaurants which has included bringing in healthy foods such as pasta and fish and reintroducing other favourites.

Mr Pegler said: “The opening of the trial site at Popham is a really exciting time for us and the latest step in Little Chef’s extraordinary history. 

“2008 really has been the year of revitalisation for Little Chef and this project with Heston and Channel 4 has married perfectly with our continuing long-term strategy to bring the brand back into the hearts and minds of the British public. 

“For us, it is important to make the brand relevant for a new generation, and working with a chef as unique as Heston has been a fantastic experience and resulted in real learnings at Little Chef.”

Mr Pegler admits there is still plenty of work to do to make Little Chef the popular roadside stop it once was, but the signs are encouraging. Performance is running 2% up like-for-like on the previous year.

“I traded through the last downturn and Little Chef grew through the recession. I’m hoping we’ll have the same fortune this year.”

There are also plans to open new Little Chef restaurants in the coming months and re-open closed ones.

Although there are more than 170 Little Chef’s open around the country, almost half have closed since Little Chef’s heyday, when there were 330. But now Mr Pegler wants to re-open restaurants as part of the shake-up.

Earlier this year, a Little Chef near Shiptonthorpe, East Yorkshire, became the first to re-open since the company went into administration. Thirty-seven were closed during the administration process.

Mr Pegler said there were a further 12 on Little Chef’s books which were being considered for re-opening.

“All these restaurants were closed by administrators or previous regimes,” says Mr Pegler, who adds that the plan will depend on cashflow.

“I’m hoping to have five open by Easter. And 12 if all goes to plan in 2009.”

Mr Pegler said he believed a major draw for customers to Little Chef outlets was their locations away from motorways on busy A roads.

“The public do like to travel on A roads if they can,” he said. “They’re more scenic, fast and I think there has always been a need for good sustenance on the road.”

Little Chef, which is currently celebrating its 50th year, went into administration under the ownership of chief executive Simon Heath and Yorkshire entrepreneur Lawrence Wosskow under their People’s Restaurant Group.

The group had bought Little Chef from private equity group Permira for £52m.

Mr Pegler said he came into a business “which had been decline since I left in 1994”. He said his and the Little Chef’s board’s strategy had been to halt the decline and grow the business.

He says that success will come with knowing what the customer wants and that to discover that, regular communication with restaurant managers and staff is essential.

One of the consequences of this dialogue has been the change in menu.

“The main driver is the menu,” says Mr Pegler. “And if it isn’t what they (customers) want they are going to go elsewhere for their food.”

He says loyal customers will always return for Little Chef’s traditional hit dishes but change has been needed to attract new customers.

And change has come in the form of Heston Blumenthal.