UKC RETAIL
Nando’s It has been 20 years since the first Nando’s restaurant opened in the UK, and although it wasn’t an initial success, the food store has grown and grown on these shores. Founded in South Africa in 1987, the first restaurant in the UK opened in 1992 in Ealing but it was more of a take-away and didn’t really work. However, just three years later, a restaurant in Camden opened. This model worked so much better and in 1996, a restaurant opened in Putney. In 1999, the first restaurant to be designed by Harrison Design opened. That one in Kilburn was significant because Harrison Design has gone on to design more than 60% of Nando’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland. The expansion continued a year later with Manchester, Birmingham and Milton Keynes getting a taste of Nando’s and the first restaurant in Scotland opened in 2006. The Republic of Ireland followed suit with its Dundrum restaurant opening in 2008 and expansion has continued ever since. Nando’s has done everything from creating an oasis of calm in a hectic shopping mall to transforming a crumbling railway bridge arch into a stunningly atmospheric restaurant. The Company’s Afro Portuguese heritage is very important, and whether it’s just a hint in the decoration or artwork on display, people can find roots in every Nando’s restaurant. Not only are top restaurant designers commissioned, Nando’s also supports the contemporary South African art scene. Pieces from the collection
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are displayed in all restaurants. A strong design ethos is apparent across all of the restaurants. Any restaurant will feel like a Nando’s but still have something that little bit different. Nando’s opened up a new restaurant in Falkirk in November at the Central Retail Park. It includes an outdoor seating area, and is one of five new sites that are opening across Scotland. The Company will be opening new branches at Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, Braehead Shopping Centre, the OMNi Centre in Edinburgh and the Palace Towers Retail Park in Hamilton as well as the Falkirk restaurant. The Palace Towers restaurant opened to the public in October, in which Nando’s has taken on a 20-year lease with rent of £95,000 a year, while another had launched in St Andrews back in March. Having opened in November the lease of the Falkirk restaurant is for 15 years at £53,000 per annum. The other openings at Braehead, Glasgow and Edinburgh are scheduled for this moth, January and February respectively. They will also be on leases of £113,500, £63,500 and £120,000. Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) handled all the acquisitions on behalf of Nando’s. Isla Monteith, an associate at C&W, said: “Nando’s is continuing its rapid expansion to meet demand from Scottish customers who can’t seem to get enough of its fantastic combination of great tasting food, world-famous spicy sauce and laid-back,
family-friendly, dining experience.” Ms Monteith added that the firm is also looking at a number of other sites in Scotland, giving hope that a wide array of hospitality jobs will be created across the region over the next year or so. The Company’s flagship restaurant at Junction 27 Leeds was opened four years ago and is still going strong. This free standing purpose-built restaurant set out to be carbon neutral from the outset, as well as full of low carbon innovative designs. Caswells was part of a diverse design team, from the initial stages of the project, while also working with other designers – each specialists in t heir fields. Caswells’ scope of works included the complete HVAC systems. High efficiency heat recover unit was used to provide tempered air to the toilets and back up areas, utilising the waste heat form the exhaust air. The Nando’s in Leeds became the first UK restaurant to use its own waste cooking oil to power the restaurant. Convert2Green re-process the waste oil to bio-fuel, which drives a micro generator at the restaurant, fulfilling all of its power needs. Nando’s export any surplus electricity to the national grid, allowing them to become a supplier of renewable energy. Convert2Green collects the waste cooking oil from all Nando’s restaurants nationwide and processes it in to a range of quality bio-fuels. continued page 88 >