Donut King, Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar eye ambitious expansion in the UK
Two of Australia’s biggest QSR brands want 250 stores each.
In attempting to introduce Australian brands Donut King and Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar to the UK, Jabbar Mumtaz is undertaking an ambitious expansion to shake up the country’s already-competitive QSR scene.
A veteran of the industry, Mumtaz began his career as a Subway franchisee in 2002. After finding success with the first store, he quickly grew his network to 17 stores within the Greater London area over a period of eight years, which won him recognition and several awards from Subway HQ, including Franchisee of the Year.
“[Our success] was due to implementing key operational changes and working within the stores myself from opening to closing, in order to maintain a hands on approach and increase efficiency,” he told QSR Media in an exclusive interview.
“Operating as Chairman for the Subway brand was also a great experience and has educated myself towards implementing this skill set to my master franchise brands. Effectively operating a blue chip multi-unit franchise has enabled me to offer high quality leadership and apply my skills in a highly competitive QSR market.”
Mumtaz also has experience assisting the UK Government with UK Trade & Investment in relation to bilateral trade between Pakistan and the UK via the Pakistan Britain Trade and Investment Forum (PBTIF). In securing the two master franchises from Australian operator Retail Food Group, he believes his expertise coupled with the brands’ distinctness can spell a recipe for success.
“Both of the brands have great unique selling points. The Crust brand makes its own dough fresh in house and also have selected house cooked meats. No other pizza operator in the UK offers this,” he said. “The Donut King brand also makes all of its donuts fresh in house using the finest ingredients, again not many other donut operators offer this unique selling point. Thus, this gives us an edge over our competitors.”
The plan is to open 250 stores for each brand over a 20 year period, which would entail a locational strategy that Mumtaz believes would play to the brands’ specific strengths. For Donut King, this includes an exclusive deal with a yet-unnamed major retailer that would see the launch of 100 outlets over a five-year period.
“I personally have over 20 years’ experience in finding the right location. Constant high footfall is a must for the DK brand and hence shopping malls would be an ideal fit,” Mumtaz said. “The Crust franchise works on residential areas with an above average disposable income and can deliver up to 5 miles in certain areas. We also have a team of agents who scour the UK for all possible locations that would fit both brands.”
Top of the things they are looking for are rent & rates parameters, footfall, target audience, average disposable income of the area, and satellite locations.
Comprehensive recruitment and social media advertising campaigns are going full throttle. Mumtaz said that mobile apps for both brands are in the works, alongside functioning websites within the next few weeks.
“We are also about to launch competitions via our social media platforms and we are constantly working on new ideas to engage with our customers. Both brands are currently on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,” he said.
Prospect franchisees, Mumtaz says, can invest in a Donut King outlet for £40,000 whilst a Crust outlet would be for £70,000.
“Finance is available on all equipment, subject to status,” he said.
(Editor's Note: The article first appeared in QSR Media UK.)
Photo credit: Donut King UK/Crust UK Facebook
