When Bill’s opened in Victoria on a former
La Tasca site, they turned over two or three
times what La Tasca had done. Now they
need to grow by £5m to grown £1.5m profit
– very challenging, with Business Rate
rises, the national living wage etc.
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Echoing an earlier Arena panel discussion,
Fox agreed that we are all operating in a
challenging environment and its harder
to achieve profit ambitions due to rising
costs. “We need to peddle a bit harder to
get through the next couple of years.”
He revealed plans afoot for Bill’s,
including:
A launch into the grab-and-go
convenience food in the summer,
which he described as ‘Pret meets
Leon’. “You don’t have to sacrifice great
taste and excitement for convenience”
A continued focus on breakfast,
which is 25% of covers and ‘growing
like billio’. “Without breakfast we’d be
finding life much tougher than we are
today.”
Playing to its core consumer focus,
the millennials, who eat out more
often than anyone else (even if they
are spending a little less) and seek out
experiences not products with a more
adventurous outlook on food
In its current guise, Bill’s could reach
150-200 sites
And, looking at the future of the casual
dining market, Mark believes:
The sector is going to have a 2-3 year
shake out period, with a decline of
‘ordinary’ businesses and growth of
the more innovative. “There’s so much
choice available now, you’ve got to be
great. You can’t stay still.”
As well as breakfast, sharing is a
growing trend but it’s a little trickier as
it must make sense for the business
from a profit perspective
The biggest challenges for the next
12 months are recruiting and keeping
qualified and engaged people; the
staggering property costs; and driving
innovation. Deliveroo is already 1-2%
of Bill’s turnover.
At the end of his presentation, Fox engaged
with the audience during a question and
answer session that further explored his
thoughts on the future of the casual dining
market and wider eating out sector.
He was also asked the pertinent question
‘what makes a good supplier?’
Fox responded: “The best suppliers tell the
truth and engage with what you’re trying
to achieve; making your life easier and
contributing to helping you reach your
end goal.”