Wendy’s is opening five restaurants in the UK, including in London and Reading. American burger restaurant Wendy’s is set to reopen in the UK, two decades after it closed down. The fast food chain is known for its iconic square burgers and is still going strong in the US, but
If you have always wanted to open your own restaurant, then you know what it’s like to fantasize over dishes, atmosphere, desserts, and to or to not have a live band performance area. However, it takes a lot to create the perfect restaurant. Many entrepreneurs have tried to become restaurant
An acoustic attenuation solution provided by Sto has helped create a new acoustic environment at a leading London restaurant. The StoSilent Distance system has been installed at Lyle’s – a restaurant that is quickly becoming recognized as one of most prestigious establishments of its kind in the capital. Located in
Tansun, the infrared heating manufacturer and expert, has pioneered infrared heaters capable of completely heating an outdoor area, encouraging diners to eat outside all year round. This range is designed to enable outdoor areas to become an extension of an indoor area and consequently provides extra revenue for the bar
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Wendy’s is opening five restaurants in the UK, including in London and Reading. American burger restaurant Wendy’s is set to reopen in the UK, two decades after it closed down. The fast food chain is known for its iconic square burgers and is still going strong in the US, but hasn’t been here since 1999. Just as life is starting to return to normal after the pandemic, the company plans to open up to 400 outlets nationwide. The plans will roll out over the next few years and are expected to create at least 12,000 jobs. And it’s good news for any Wendy’s fans living around Reading, as the first new restaurant will open up in the city next month. Full list of Wendy’s opening in the UK While there are big plans to open hundreds of restaurants up and down the country, these are the only confirmed locations so far: Reading (opened June 2) Stratford (opening in the second half of 2021) Oxford (opening in the second half of 2021) There are also two more restaurants opening in the UK this year, but the locations have not been confirmed. Steven Derwoed, Vice President, Global Design and Construction for Wendy’s, said: “We’re very proud of our restaurant design in Reading, and I’m confident that we’ve built a place that our customers will love to go and our employees will love to work. “The interior has a cool vibe with a focus on natural wood, dark contrasts, comfortable seating and fun art making it feel fresh and current. “Creating a frictionless and convenient experience for our customers is at the heart of our design, whether a customer places their order via mobile before they set foot in the restaurant, at a kiosk once they arrive or at a traditional front counter with one of our friendly team members. “We’ve even incorporated an exterior walk-up window to create speedy access for delivery providers so customers can get their Wendy’s food even faster. We look forward to serving customers soon!” Wendy’s bosses first revealed the firm was returning to the UK in late 2019, with the chain currently running 6,700 outlets across 30 countries.
If you have always wanted to open your own restaurant, then you know what it’s like to fantasize over dishes, atmosphere, desserts, and to or to not have a live band performance area. However, it takes a lot to create the perfect restaurant. Many entrepreneurs have tried to become restaurant owners only to find that it’s not as glamorous as originally plotted out in their dreams. To be a successful restaurant creator, you have to have a dream, as well as the knowledge to turn it into a success. It’s not just about restaurant design either. These are a few tips that experienced restaurant entrepreneurs have shared. Learn the Three Pillars of Restaurant Businesses If you are overwhelmed by the idea of opening a restaurant, there are three things to focus on as you step forward into this journey. Your restaurant concept Your chef Your location Without knowing these three things, you will have a much harder and slower time creating the dream restaurant. These are the core ingredients to any successful restaurant, and they have to be well-planned. In addition, what goals define your success? Is it that you become a popular neighborhood spot? Do you want to be well-known in a specific genre? Do you simply want to make a lot of money and have good times? Open a Restaurant within a Fantastic Niche Nobody wants to go to the same restaurant all the time. That’s why there are local restaurants that have something different about them to draw in people and get the good reviews week-after-week. As you look around your area of the world, what restaurants, cuisine, service, and conveniences do you find that you like when you dine out? How could these help your business? One thing that many restaurant owners don’t look at is the technology behind a restaurant’s success. For example, new point of sale systems with mobile ordering or tabletop checkouts can really change the flow and atmosphere of your restaurant. Do you want a restaurant that can quickly take orders and provide detailed sales reports? Then you want to go with a POS system developed in the past two years. There are too many smart features with new point of sale systems to ignore. What About a Franchise Opportunity? Is there a particular restaurant out there that already matches what you want to do? Perhaps you could be a franchise owner, which is an easy way to get into the business and enjoy ownership as most of the work is already done for you. In addition, if you pick the right franchise, you will already have brand recognition and customer loyalty on your side. However, joining a franchise isn’t cheap, and you’ll need to prove that you can be a successful restaurant owner by showing financial stability and wealth of personal assets. Set Up Your Business Plan Whether you decide to open your dream restaurant or you want to get into a franchise, you should write out a business plan that will give you a roadmap to success. Here are some things to think about as you develop your plan: What’s your restaurant concept? What kind of restaurant do you want to own? Who is the audience coming to your restaurant? How do you service them? Who are the competitors of your restaurant? What is the ideal location for your restaurant? What is the unique value proposition of your restaurant, or more simply, what makes your restaurant different to customers? What kind of value do they get out of your restaurant? How will customers find your restaurant? Finally, what kind of resources will you need to start and keep your restaurant going? What kind of sales will you need to cover overhead as well as make a profit? Once you write out your business plan, you can share it with potential partners, chefs, or investors if you are looking for help to begin your dream.
An acoustic attenuation solution provided by Sto has helped create a new acoustic environment at a leading London restaurant. The StoSilent Distance system has been installed at Lyle’s – a restaurant that is quickly becoming recognized as one of most prestigious establishments of its kind in the capital. Located in the historic refurbished Tea Building in Shoreditch, Lyle’s frontage consists of original individual glazed windows, which lead into a clean modern, large open plan area. Within this area there are exposed HVAC services below the soffit, a bar space and an open kitchen experience. “Although the interior is clean, light and modern and gives a feeling of space, unfortunately all the original features of the building, i.e. glazed tiles to the walls, original concrete columns and polished concrete floors are hard and reflective and only add to the acoustic conundrum with attenuation, reverberation and speech clarity,” explains Sto’s Technical Consultant for Acoustics, Mike Wallace. “Add to the mix the open kitchen and bar, mood music and hard wooden tables and chairs, and it was vital that the correct acoustic balance was achieved. “For a restaurant, it’s important to create the correct balance. You want the area to have a good background atmosphere, and at the same time, the customers need to be able to hold conversations without straining to hear, where speech is intelligible. This is when good all-round acoustic design becomes a vital element within the space. To achieve this, we were asked to provide a Class B solution, which translates to 0.8 and 0.85 as a weighted sound absorption coefficiency.” The Sto Silent Distance 115 system was chosen to achieve this balance and Sto worked closely with Billy Hookway of Trishna Group to provide the optimum design. The Sto Silent Distance 115 system allows the creation of seamless, sound-absorbent walls and ceilings up to 200 m², allowing inclined planes, sharp and consistent joints, bulkheads and floating return bulkheads. In line with the aspiration of the client wishing to have a modern, clean, uncluttered aesthetic, it was natural for Lyles to choose the Sto Silent Distance system. The interior soffit consisted of existing pre-constructed square concrete coffers, and the client wished to retain these, so Sto designed the individual canopies to be tight to the soffit and give the impression of height and depth, and to accentuate and express the natural concrete coffers. The use of the Sto SW150 minimal void solution, in conjunction with the 25mm 115 board, provided the perfect balance in achieving the all-important acoustic design and the aesthetic requirements. Installation of the system was managed by Craft Interior, a trained Sto Acoustic installer. “The overall installation was finished with Sto Silent Décor M in white, to create an eye-catching finish that is very in-keeping with the clean and minimalist design of the restaurant’s interior,” adds Graham Chadwick of Craft Interior. “The StoSilent Décor M is spray-applied and can be tinted to match a wide range of shades from the StoColor system”. The final effect has been extremely successful, with Lyle’s diners able to enjoy their meal in surroundings that are attractive and contemporary from both a visual and acoustic viewpoint. Picture caption: A StoSilent Distance acoustic attenuation solution has helped create a new acoustic environment at this leading London restaurant. Picture courtesy of Adam Luszniak Photography
Tansun, the infrared heating manufacturer and expert, has pioneered infrared heaters capable of completely heating an outdoor area, encouraging diners to eat outside all year round. This range is designed to enable outdoor areas to become an extension of an indoor area and consequently provides extra revenue for the bar or restaurant. When an outdoor area is equipped with adequate heat coverage, customers prefer to sit outdoors, found Tansun. However, more than 90% of outside areas are not being heated effectively, resulting in areas now only being unused, but also a wasted investment for bars and restaurants. The Merchant House or the ‘Museum Brasserie’ in Jersey installed Tansun’s Sorrento heaters on its terrace to create a better and more profitable outdoor dining experience. Installing a more effective heating solution resulted in the restaurant receiving more bookings and seeing a noticeable increase in its sales. “With a large outside space and with British weather being as it is, it was clear to us that adequate heating was crucial to our business model. While they added a certain ambiance with the flames, the gas heaters we were using were ineffective, unreliable, expensive to run and bad for the environment. Having looked across the market at both local and international suppliers, the sleek look, anti-glare properties, range of products from Tansun and the reasonable prices seemed like the obvious option for us,” said Alex Dolan, Business Development Manager, Dolan Hotels Jersey. “We saw Tansun at the Restaurant Technology and Restaurant Design Expo in ExCel London, liked their products and chose to install six Sorrento heaters. We are so pleased that we will definitely be choosing them when we eventually refurbish our other restaurants. Our clients regularly comment on how they like the new found warmth of our terrace and this can be seen in the sales. As a matter of fact I posted a picture on Facebook and got a call for a table of eight under the heaters five minutes later,” Alex added. Tansun’s range includes a selection of energy-saving switches and heater controls designed to suit almost any situation or need. All of its products are made in the UK and are designed using premium components. The company has been established for 35 years and pioneered the concept of infrared electric heaters alongside Philips technology.
