Beef 'O'Brady's, the American neighbourhood sports restaurant/pub operator, hopes to launch in the UK next year and would target suburbs..
James Walker, Beef 'O' Brady's chief development officer, told M&C Report that the UK, along with Brazil, would be the focus for overseas expansion in 2014.
The company, which operates 216 sites in the US, opened its first overseas unit in July this year in Saudi Arabia. "We are hoping later this year to open our second location in the Middle East, in Kuwait.
"We've sold [master franchise] rights to the vast majority of countries [in the Middle East]. In the late part of this year and the early part of next
year we will be vetting candidates for master franchise rights in other markets."
Beef 'O' Brady's views the UK and the rest of Europe as different markets and would focus on Britain before the rest of the continent.
"We are a sports themed American restaurant with traditional American food and sports, which have done well in the UK."
He described Beef 'O' Brady's, which opened its first site in Brandon, Florida in 1985, as "another level" of operation in terms of food quality, with a focus on local ingredients.
"What we bring is a much broader selection of beers from around the world," he said, adding that the sites feature 50 high definition screens.
Regarding a UK launch, Walker said Beef 'O' Brady's approach would be "out to the regions then working our way in", unlike its American counterparts that debut in London.
"What makes us so unique in the US is we started in these neighbourhood, small markets," he said.
"London real estate is exorbitant. We can go out to the suburbs and be a neighbourhood pub, but what we bring is neighbourhood pubs with a broader menu and better sports."
He hoped to launch in the UK in Q4 2014. Walker said there was no specific expansion target for the UK.
"I'm always conservative with my forecasts," he said. "Obviously the UK in general is a very big market and full of beer loving sports enthusiasts."
While the UK operation would be headed by a master franchisee, he envisaged single unit franchisees to be "mum and dad" operators who "know the local market".
Franchise Ranking History
Franchise 500: #395 (2014), #362 (2012), #185 (2010),
Franchisegator 100 list #95 (2014)