Comptoir Group plans UK and overseas restaurant franchise expansion

Lebanese restaurant group Comptoir is looking to open further sites in the UK and overseas under franchise after a post-pandemic sales bounce.

It comes after a turbulent year for the Comptoir board which saw its chairman and chief executive step down following a battle for control of the business with founder Tony Kitous.

Former Leon managing director Nick Ayerst took over as chief executive in October with an eye on opening further restaurants.

He said 2022 had been a “period of transition” for the company, adding: “We are in a position to open new restaurants across the different brands with an experienced and motivated leadership team to execute the group’s strategy.”

Comptoir owns and operates 26 Lebanese restaurants, six of which are franchised, under the Comptoir Libanais and Shawa brands.

It saw revenue rise 49% to £31m in 2022 while gross profit rose 44% to £24.4m. Pre-tax profits fell from £1.5m in 2021 to £902,450 in 2022.

Two franchise restaurants launched at London Stansted Airport and Doha Airport in Qatar during the past year.

Comptoir has previously expanded internationally with its franchise partners HMSHOST, with restaurants in the Netherlands and Dubai.

The company said it was “actively engaging” with partners to explore opportunities to open restaurants across different regions.

Rising inflation has seen Comptoir bring its supply chain management in-house and undergo “significant menu re-engineering” to allow it to offset VAT rises with only “modest” price increases, Ayerst said.

“We continue to closely monitor guest sentiment in respect of the value proposition,” he wrote.

Ayerst added that Comptoir had not lost a single day of trade over the last three years due to staffing issues and has raised staff pay and added benefits such as health care and financial and mental health support during the past year.