The Breakfast Club appoints Charlie McVeigh as chairman as it eyes expansion

The Breakfast Club has appointed founder and chairman of Draft House pub company Charlie McVeigh as its chairman.

The group has made the appointment after achieving record sales of £9.7m in the first seven months of the financial year, off a like-for-like sales increase of 4.3%.

The Breakfast Club, founded by Jonathan Arana-Morton in 2005, opened its 12th site in Soho’s Berwick Street earlier this year and is looking to further expansion having negotiated a further facility with Santander.

Arana-Morton said: "As always, we are cautiously optimistic about the future of the Breakfast Club. We have negotiated some fairly choppy waters and I am delighted with the resilience the team and this business has shown through a tough few years for the sector. I’m especially proud we have done this with an absolute commitment to funding our community and charity engagement, which now totals over 3,000 staff hours a year. “

“We’re no longer the new kid on the block, but to still have queues across all our 12 cafés on a weekly basis, 14 years after we first opened, shows the huge affection for the brand.

"We are delighted with the appointment of Charlie. He brings the plan, the discipline, a network (is he the most networked man in hospitality?) and years of industry experience.”

McVeigh added: “I have been working closely with Jonathan Arana-Morton over the past six months and I'm immensely excited to join the board of what many regard as one of the strongest brands in the sector.

“During that time we have seen good improvements in sales and profitability, with – I hope – more to come. Jonathan and his team have built one of the deepest company cultures I have come across in my 20 years in hospitality, with legendary levels of staff engagement and retention. The group's strong trading performance in and outside London suggests that further expansion is an option in the coming years.”

In the year to March 2019 the group achieved sales of £15.7m, with group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £744,000.

Picture credit: Jade Nina Sarkhel