A video recording of this event is now available to watch online. To get your event password, buy a ticket below or get in touch via info@leisurepropertyforum.co.uk
Webinar: Accelerating away – the continued growth of the drive-thru market.
A joint webinar between The Leisure Property Forum and Accessible Retail
Date: 19th May 9.15am – 10.30am
This seminar provides 1 hr 15 mins of professional CPD.
The Drive-thru market continues to thrive and has been one of the few food and beverage sectors that has been able to trade through much of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is seeing strong expansion by established operators and a large number of new and expanding brands coming into the UK.
This joint session with AR (Accessible Retail) provides insight into the key statistics in this market, presentations from operators and insight into the opportunities and challenges that this sector will see in the years after the pandemic.
Alfred Bartlett from market experts, Rapleys, will provide an overview of the market, giving market data on the size of the sector, key participants, rents and leasing terms as well as investor sentiment and market yields. Alfred is Equity Partner and National Head of Commercial Agency & Development, and as such, his role has been extended beyond the Retail & Leisure Group, which remains his specialism. Alfred acts for developers putting together mainly food retail and drive thru restaurant led schemes as well as for many operators, including two on the panel today (Popeyes and Costa) in an acquisition capacity, together with retailers such as Lidl, Co-op, Subway & Majestic Wine. Prior to his role at Rapleys, Alfred ran Bartlett Property for 11 years from where his specialism in the Quick Service Restaurant and Drive thru market stems.
We will then have presentations from both established and new operators:
James Hamilton, Property & Store Development Director – Costa UK&I at Costa Coffee
James is currently the Property & Store Development Director of Costa Coffee, where he manages the property function from site location strategy, store acquisition, estate management, construction development and store proposition and design. Costa have been one of the most acquisitive occupiers in retail and hospitality, and the largest coffee shop company in the UK&I trading from over 2,700 stores in the UK&I and voted The Nation’s Favourite for 10 years running. James has worked for Costa for 10 years, and has over 25 years of property sector experience. He started his career with eight years in private practice followed by over 15 years at retailers including Vision Express, Halfords & now Costa Coffee.
Elias Diaz Sese, Board Director at Popeyes
Elias has over 20 years’ experience developing global consumer brands and teams around the world (EMEA, APAC & North America). He is a 3G Capital experienced Executive Partner, currently involved in long-term growth opportunity ventures, and as co-founder of Popeyes UK since December 2021. He is also a Non-Executive Director and shareholder of Dominos Pizza UK & Ireland and most recently led the Kraft Heinz turnaround in UK & Ireland as President for Northern Europe, after investing over 15 years in building Restaurant Brands International (RBI) worldwide. He has led the global expansion for Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes as part of his last RBI role.
Stephen joined Wendy’s in 2018 as the Vice President of North America Restaurant Development and Recruiting. In February 2019, his role expanded and he now serves as Vice President of Global Restaurant Development and Recruiting. In this role, he is responsible for the Franchise and Corporate New Restaurant Growth Strategy, Franchise Recruiting and Real Estate. Prior to joining Wendy’s, Stephen was the Chief Development Officer for Jimmy John’s, and spent 13 years at Taco Bell in a variety of roles in Finance, Strategy, Operations and Development, eventually being the Senior Director of Development and Facilities. In this role he grew new restaurants by 200+ per year and launched the Taco Bell Cantina urban expansion strategy.
Finally, the panel will have a discussion about key trends in the market and challenges that the sector will face going forward, such as site availability and planning.
Our Chair is Fiona Brownfoot, owner and director at Hicks Baker, where she is a dedicated specialist in the retail and leisure market. Her expertise is wide ranging – from development advice (including Sackville Properties’ 2 million sq ft Station Hill scheme and Muse Developments on the 11 acre Chatham Place site) to disposals for a variety of landlord clients from substantial fund management organisations. She also works with individual private investors and on acquisitions for retailers, including Bang & Olufsen and Cara London. In a previous business life Fiona has been a land buyer and also worked for Berkshire County Council.