Burger King to roll out smaller-format restaurants

Fast-food giant Burger King will find itself competing with the likes of Starbucks and Subway as it targets smaller venues for a new restaurant format.

It has developed a new model that is about one-third smaller than its typical restaurants in a bid to cut property costs by 30%. Trials have indicated that the smaller restaurants achieve the same level of sales as the larger ones.

At present the size of an average high street Burger King is 1,500 sq ft, while drive-through restaurants average 2,750 sq ft. Sizes for the new formats will start from 500 sq ft for high street sites and 1,500 sq ft for drive-throughs.

The smaller sites will form a major part of a new drive to open restaurants following the slowdown in development that followed Burger King's acquisition in 2002 by venture capitalists Texas Pacific, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Private Equity Group.

The group intends to spend between £3m and £4m over the next three years to expand its estate from 700 to 1,000 sites.

by Angela Frewin

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