Franco Manca boss: expansion will be 'a marathon not a sprint'

The new chief executive of Franco Manca and Real Greek owner Fulham Shore has said the business is not looking to “hypercharge” expansion of either restaurant brand.

Marcel Khan, who took over this month, was previously chief executive of Thunderbird Fried Chicken and spearheaded the expansion of US burger brand Five Guys in the UK.

He has joined Fulham Shore following its £93.4m sale to Japanese food business Toridoll, operator of the Marugame Udon and Shoryu brands, and private equity firm Capdesia last year.

The deal included 27 Real Greek and 70 Franco Manca restaurants.

Khan said the rapid expansion of casual dining brands seen in the past was “not the vision for Franco Manca and the Real Greek” and the group’s new owners were not pushing for the same approach.

“Both brands are underpenetrated in the UK certainly and I think there’s opportunity beyond,” he said. “The growth will be there…but we’re not looking to hypercharge. We’ll run a marathon, not a sprint.”

He added: “The great thing about the market is customers are more and more demanding, which means you need to be better and better. How do you do that at hyperspeed? I don’t know. So, I’m really pleased to say that pressure isn’t on me.”

New restaurants in the UK will be company-owned, but Franco Manca has already entered franchise agreements in Greece, Spain and Northern Ireland.

Khan was optimistic about the opportunity for overseas growth but said there were no concrete plans in place. He said Franco Manca and the Real Greek were well-placed to weather the “real squeeze” on customer’s finances by remaining “really affordable”.

“We’ve got great relationships with small suppliers in Greece and Italy, which keeps our prices down,” he said. “You can go out for dinner for two in Franco Manca and spend less than £30 and still have a really nice time. Real Greek’s not far off that either. We have raised prices lower than inflation, and it’s our intention to keep them as low as we can. That’s the reality of business.”

Khan said the extra pressure on customer’s wallets meant it was more important than ever for restaurants to put out a good product.

“That £30 they’re spending is more hard-earned,” he added. “It has to stretch further than it did five years ago. It places more responsibility on businesses. We’re not going to bring in Kylie Jenner or whoever the biggest influencer of the day is to try and drive customers. We’re going to earn that loyalty one pizza at a time."