Content area
Full text
Bristol-based Friska plans to take its healthy fast-food eateries much further than the West Country. Mark Simmons finds out where it will go next
For Ed Brown, keen surfer and co-founder of up-and-coming café operator Friska, taking the business to the rest of the UK is proving an exciting ride. The 30-year-old economics graduate is looking to replicate the success it enjoys in its home city of Bristol, where over the past seven years it has built up a cluster of six sites, of which the last opened earlier this month.
Next stop is Birmingham, where the food operator opened its initial outlet at Eleven Brindleyplace in February. Expect to see five more in the next couple of years, along a Brindleyplace-Colmore Row-Snow Hill axis. Manchester, with its vibrant foodie scene, may seem a more logical destination. But Brown explains: "Birmingham has the largest professional population outside London."
And for Friska - which roughly translates as fresh in Swedish - professionals are what they are all about. Catering to office workers' breakfast and lunch pangs, most Friska outlets trade on weekdays only and close at 4pm. "What's important to us is the number of people within five minutes. Our core customers are lawyers, accountants, media and property professionals who are interested in food, care about good coffee and will buy lunch four out of five days a week," says Brown.
He has first-hand experience of his target market as a former economist at then-DTZ's office in Bristol. And he is no stranger to commercial property - his father worked in project management. That hasn't tempted him to broker his own deals, though. "Having an agent on board helps to smooth things over and you can benefit from the landlord dealing with someone they know," Brown explains.
Helping Friska on its Birmingham expansion...