‘We like the challenge and excitement’

Session chair and Hawksmoor CEO Will Beckett has shown the way for British brands in the US, with a flourishing 8,500 square feet restaurant in Manhattan and a just-opened 16,500 square feet Chicago site. Hawksmoor has found breaking the US hard but rewarding. “We’re often enjoying it and sometimes slightly overwhelmed by the extent of it,” he said. “It’s like the question of why climb Mount Everest? Because it’s there—because you like the challenge and excitement.”

‘You have to be patient’

Another top operation going beyond home turf is The Alchemist, which opened in Berlin last year, with more franchise sites to follow. “Growth is baked into our business… sooner or later we knew we’d run out of white space in the UK… so we thought we’d get out in front of it,” said CEO Simon Potts. “I’m not much further on with my German Duolingo, but we are further on in understanding how the market works out there.” Perseverance has been crucial. “It took a bit longer than expected [to open]… We’ve had to be patient.”

‘Be ready to adapt’

Opening overseas can feel like starting over, said Simon Potts. “You’ve got a brand that you totally understand and engineered in the market you started in—but if you take it elsewhere it becomes a concept again. You’ve got the name above the door so you need to keep the primary thing the same, but you’ve got lots of opportunity to flex the operation and think about things in a different way.” In big markets like the US, one size will never fit all, said Clay Dover, chief executive and president at Velvet Taco, which is preparing to launch in the UK. “There are 50 states in the US, and so many differences… you have to be ready to adapt.”

‘Roll with the punches’

“There’s excitement and fun [opening overseas]… doing interesting work and stuff you’ve not done before is really important,” said Simon Potts. But brands need to put in the hard yards on site selection and development and be ready for bumps in the road. “No matter how many times we visit a country, we’re never going to be as connected to it as we are in the UK,” he said. “You have to accept you’re never going to know it all and will have to roll with a few punches.” Éadaoin McDonagh, chief operating officer at White Rabbit Projects, which has opened venues in Japan, France and Portugal, agreed. “Things go wrong all the time… you need to be agile and have enough cash to cope with that.”

‘You need local knowledge’

It’s vital to find the right partners on international openings, said Éadaoin McDonagh. “You 100% need that local knowledge and expertise… It’s really important to do your due diligence on the menu and pricing points for local people.” To ensure consistency, White Rabbit has built an intranet system and processes to show partners how to build a new Lina Stores venue from scratch. “That gave us some comfort that when we showed up it would look and taste like a Lina Stores.” Clay Dover added: “We feel very comfortable with our partners—we’ve been selective and spent a lot of time looking…  “It’s critical to our growth and reputation.”

‘Crossing borders adds value for investors’

International openings can be very attractive to investors, said Éadaoin McDonagh. “It’s always been in our plans… The ability to cross borders certainly adds value.” Clay Dover added: “It’s additive… private equity [owners] don’t think it’s a have-to-have, but they’ve looked it as a nice-to-have.” Simon Potts said: “Investors want to know what the story is… if we’re out of white space here you need to find other territories to push into. It also opens up a different community of potential investors.”

Hospitality leaders interested in international expansion have the chance to gather inspiration from the US market on the Atlantic Club’s trip to Denver in June 2025. To find out more about the Atlantic Club and how to become a member, email becky.dundee@peach2020.com.

Peach 20/20 thanks its headline partners on the 2024 Leaders Summit: Access, CGA by NIQ, Diageo, Fourth, Nutritics, Sona and Zonal; premium partners Chapman Ventilation, Crunchtime, Toast and Uber Eats; event partners Airship, Bird & Bird, Brakes, Cardlytics, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Feed it Back, Freeths, Gusborne, Harri, Hawkstone, Kitch, Lucky Saint, Mapal and The National Restaurant, Pub & Bar Show and Toggle; and charity and association partners Be Inclusive Hospitality, Only A Pavement Away, Tim Bacon Foundation and UKHospitality.