16th May 2016
Alan Yau’s Busaba Eathai, now delivers almost £3m worth of takeaways, having grown from almost nothing inside 18 months. The Thai chain believes it can hit reach £5m and £6m of delivery turnover at existing sites. Trial delivery points have been fitted at its latest openings in Manchester and Liverpool. Delivery points are likely to be retro-fitted to existing sites if they are successful at these two trial sites. Busaba Eathai is planning a three-fold estate increase in three years, growing to 30 sites but Busaba chef executive Jason Myers believes there is room for more than 100 Busaba Eathai sites in the UK. Myers has two models for the brand – Classic (in central London) and a Restaurant version with less communal seating, which was launched in Kingston, Shoreditch and now in Manchester. There are circa 1,500 licensed Thai businesses in the UK, with a large number of them operating from pubs. Thai branded multi-site market accounts for less than 100 of the total. The market is worth £4.9b annually, of which £330m comes from the pan-Asian segment, with Wagamama accounts for half. The brand’s original site on London’s Wardour Street, opened in 1999, is still as busy despite the arrival of 40 food and beverage operations in the same street since 1999. Busaba Eathai sites can turn covers as many as seven or eight times a day and serve up to 5,500 covers a week.
www.busaba.com