BK refits and hires to grow

20 June, 2012

Burger King has hired a new senior business development manager to raise its profile in the UK and Ireland as it continues a major refurb of its restaurants.

Neil Holland has joined the company with a brief to grow the UK estate via franchising deals. He has previously overseen development of brands including Starbucks, Subway and Papa John’s Pizza. He will be working with BK’s real estate agent Cushman and Wakefield to identify new drive-through locations in the UK in particular.

Holland said: “There are lots of exciting developments happening at Burger King UK Ltd and I’m looking forward to being a part of them and seeing the business grow. In the short term, we are undergoing a complete interior refit of our restaurants, but alongside this our main focus will be on growing the UK portfolio.”

The refit of Burger King’s 500 restaurants has begun at its Leicester Square branch, where new additions include digital menu boards and screens and a BK Café. The changes are intended to bring Burger King up to date as it battles for market share with McDonald’s in particular.

The latest Peach BrandTrack research shows that Burger King has slipped down the UK eating-out rankings, judged numbers using the brand, to ninth place, behind not only fast food rivals McDonalds, KFC and Subway, but also Greggs, Costa, Wetherspoons, Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

The UK expansion plans follow moves to grow the Burger King brand across Russia and China.