Commitment to surpass expectations
Daniel Bunce: “Our delicious kebabs game-changing kebabs and our laid-back restaurant environment is a place where people can hang out and relax with friends and family.”
“We are always looking to innovate and take advantage of new technology and improve how we do things. While we continue to cook our meats in the traditional doner kebab grillers, we have worked with our suppliers to ensure improvements to the cooking process and meat shaving equipment. We have also worked even more closely with our delivery partners during 2020 and continue to challenge their technology and lead the way in trialing new ‘ways to work’, ultimately to improve our guest experience. Further developments include technology that will improve our accuracy and speed of service.”
“We are also committed to driving innovation in our product range and responding to the needs of our customers. As part of our commitment to exploring new products that excite and capture the imagination of our loyal customers, we recently launched the new Boss Box to consumers that offers an immersive dining experience which people can enjoy both at home and in our restaurants. It has proven to be a huge hit with our customers across the globe.”
Forging ahead with growth during the pandemic
Daniel Bunce: “We forged ahead with our growth plans during the Pandemic, confirming our position as one of the world’s fastest growing restaurant chains. We have found ourselves in very challenging times however there continues to be a huge demand for the GDK experience throughout the UK and our international growth regions.”
“This demand has been reflected in a significant rise in same-store sales in August following our participation in the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, up 46 per cent from the same period last year. Total sales for August were also up 139 per cent on August 2019. This recent performance is testament to our wider strategy of product innovation, the ingenuity and speed of our operational team and the support we have had from our partners.”
“The Pandemic has truly shown the responsiveness and entrepreneurial culture that flows through the GDK family. We agreed with our franchise partners to stay open throughout the pandemic to support key workers and our communities. We brought in COVID-19 measures to protect our teams and guests and comply with all Government advice. Precisely, we adapted well and invested in equipment and packaging in order to ensure quality food arrived at our customers’ door. This allowed us to continue to support our local communities, and we even partnered with Deliveroo and provided 30,000 meals to the hard-working NHS and frontline staff. We gained new guests trying us for the first time, and we are delighted to say, they enjoyed our food and continue to come back.”
“We primarily see ourselves as a dine-in and takeaway restaurant. While we offered guests a choice, delivery was about 25% of our business. Obviously now, with current regulations, this changed. We pride ourselves on being agile, responsive and being able to read the market. We worked hard with Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats and we adapted our business for more delivery.”
“Now our sales have exponentially increased and the takeaway and delivery market is now 100% of what we do right now, due to dine in restrictions and protocols. We offer a click and collect through our delivery partners, and we will be launching the service through our own website in late January or early February. This will be further enhanced with the launch of the GDK app early in mid-2021.”
“The year has certainly been a steep learning curve, and it is a credit to all our teams that we stand strong today and ready for further growth. We continue to work within the government guidelines in all parts of the country and we adapt quickly in order to protect our team and our guests. We continue to monitor, ‘how we can do it better’ and we have implemented flow movement within the work environment.”
Ensuring consistent dining experience across all locations
Daniel Bunce: “There are certain bespoke items that are purchased from our nominated suppliers. Obviously, our own meats, bread, and sauces are developed by us and unique to GDK. We also have particular equipment we use in the business and again, this is bespeaking to a GDK. We have a number of ‘preferred suppliers’ and this also gives our Franchise partners preferred pricing on many items and using them is generally a cost-benefit to them.”
“We are lucky that we have a very hands-on approach to the business. This means we talk to our Franchise Partners on either a daily or weekly basis. We have a robust head office team who are out on the road every day and visiting restaurants. We probably have one of the highest headcounts per store in the industry, and that ensures that our support is always there and available.”
“We are a very open, but tight community and while we always have challenges, our franchise partners are very happy with the state of the business and the growth we continue to show year on year. Hence, they say a lot of positive things about us.”
Key to a successful restaurant franchise
Daniel Bunce: “The German Doner Kebab senior team has over 100 years combined experience in F&B and franchising. Our leadership team has been assembled from the world’s leading global food and beverage brands, bringing unrivalled experience and industry expertise in growing and developing new franchises.”
“We have a robust process in choosing our Franchise partners and provide significant operational support from our leadership. After an initial inquiry, our team meets the potential partner and take them through the process. This process is not just about us ensuring the partner is the right partner, but also, to explain what commitments are necessary from them. It is also about them finding out about us and that they think we are also right for them. As we say, it is like a marriage- two parties agreeing to spend the next 10, 20 years together.”
“From the time we sign any partner, we work with them to ensure they are ‘set for success’. We will work with them on on-site selection, design, build, and team recruitment and training. We are with them every step of the way and we do not leave their sight until their restaurant is up and running and they are capable of delivering our brand standards with their own team. It is by doing this we not only protect their interests but that of the wider GDK family.”
Mission 2021
Daniel Bunce: “We have 52 restaurants in the UK at the start of 2021. It is intended to double the UK business through the next 12 months. We have also recently opened in North America, in Ottawa and Vancouver and our expansion will continue in both Canada and the USA. Our Swedish business continues to grow, and we have plans to enter Spain, and both Northern and Southern Ireland. It’s certainly exciting times at German Doner Kebab, we are truly transforming the fast-casual dining scene through our game-changing kebabs and we are now perfectly positioned to expand our footprint and reach more consumers across the UK and our international growth regions.”