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 quest is James Woodard, director at Hartnell Taylor Cook. “We’re under offer on a couple of units and there are plenty of opportunities,” he says. The operator will sign up for traditional 10-15 year leases. North of Birmingham, Friska uses Manchester-based agent Matt Illingworth of Hynes Illingworth. Brown expects the first Friska to appear in Manchester in 2017 or 2018 and Leeds after that.
Breaking into the London market is also on the cards, but with no timescale so far. Brown says: “It’s about weighing up the affluence and spending power against the fact that’s it’s costly to do business there.”
Future growth towards the ultimate aspiration of 50 outlets nationwide that Brown and 32-year old co-founder Griff Holland expect to achieve within the next decade depends on cash. A funding round in 2014 raised £1.25m and Brown reckons the business can open up to 12 more sites before it looks to raise additional finance. “Next time there will be a quantum increase in what we’re after. We’ll make sure we have runway to grow and firepower,” he says. The company expects to turn over £4m this year and Brown claims it is profitable – “though not wildly so, because of the amount we are investing in each location”.
However fast Friska grows, the HQ is likely to remain in Bristol. At the moment it’s a ticket’s throw away from Temple Meads station, which is handy for Brown for the one to two days a week he is out of town traveling. And back at base he is likely to be on two wheels, as it is one of his passions after hours (see box). “Bike is by far the quickest way of getting round Bristol,” he says.
It is also one of the most environmentally friendly, and sustainability is high on Friska’s agenda. In 2014 it picked up an award as the UK’s ethical restaurant of the year – though the co-founders (both of whom studied economics at Bath university) are relatively low-key about it. Brown says: “Sustainability is about being green but also about being financially sustainable. We have a duty of care to our employees and that should come top of the list.”
Out of office
Perhaps unsurprisingly Friska co-founder Ed Brown favours independent eateries when he goes out for a meal. “They have a more authentic feel for what they do,” he explains. Local favourites in Bristol include Bravas, a tapas bar near his Cotham Hill home, and Flour & Ash, a pizza house on Cheltenham Road that has won the approval of food critic Jay Rayner.
Brown is also amenable to visiting chain establishments that don’t feel like chains. He has been impressed by both Brighton start-up Giggling Squid and Brixton pizza export Franco Manca to the point where they might be role models. “That’s our ambition – to keep that independent spirit,” he says.
He is an outdoorsy person at heart, though, with a fondness for trail-running (last month he made the top 10 of the Brecon Beacons Half Marathon) and a passion for surfing. The beaches of north Devon are within reasonably easy reach of Bristol – Croyde is a favourite – and further afield into Wales he lists the Gower peninsula and the Pembrokeshire coast as top spots.
“I try and keep September/October free as that’s the best time of year to go surfing in this country,” he adds. He’s not averse to sampling the surf abroad either. Later this year he will head for Sri Lanka.
City’s leisure market looks ship-shape and Bristol fashion
“Bristol has a whole lot of water, a whole lot of restaurants, but it hasn’t had a lot of restaurants by the water,” observes Hartnell Taylor Cook director James Woodard. That is all set to change. Michelin-starred Casamia has already moved to the waterfront General Hospital site, bringing not just fine dining but separate pizza and tapas offers with it. These last two, Pi Shop and Paco, are set to open later this year.
New eateries are also expected at Finzels Reach and at Wapping Wharf, where developer Umberslade has already announced the arrival of two independent café brands. Director Stuart Hatton says: “This area is making a name as Bristol’s new foodie quarter and we have more signings to come.”
Away from the water, the greatest demand for A3 remains in the city centre at Cabot Circus, where a handful of new leisure venues are expected to emerge from former retail units later this year. The diversity of new entrants, says Cushman & Wakefield director Spencer Wilson, is illustrated by London favourite The Ivy, set to open its first restaurant outside the capital in a former Natwest bank in Clifton, and independent brasserie Prince Street Social, which opened in February.
A new A3 pitch has formed on Queens Road, midway between Queen Square in the city centre and Whiteladies Road, Clifton, where Cau, Wahaca and Byron have joined existing eateries Bill’s, Jamies and Wagamama. Despite the bubbling market, leisure rents are not excessively fizzy, benchmarking at around £24 per sq ft, though HTC’s Woodard notes that they vary significantly depending on location.
Friska in numbers
1,500-2,000 sq ft
ideal unit size
7
number of sites open
7:00-9:00 and 12:00-14:00
peak demand hours
700 – 1,000
target footfall per hour
20 – 40
target age range of Friska customers
75
employees in Bristol
6
staff in Bristol HQ
70%
proportion of takeaway spend vs eat-in
£5.50
cost of breakfast or lunchtime ‘hot box’
Source: Friska
