New franchise agreement and restaurant update

RNS Number : 1265E

Fulham Shore PLC (The)

02 November 2015

 



02 November 2015

The Fulham Shore plc

 ("Fulham Shore" or the "Company")

New franchise agreement and restaurant openings update

New Franchise agreement

The Board of Fulham Shore is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a franchise agreement (the "Franchise Agreement") with Bukowski Limited ("Bukowski Ltd"), the owner of Bukowski Grill restaurants ("Bukowski").  Bukowski is a London-based charcoal-grill restaurant and bar, serving breakfasts, burgers and grills.  Bukowski currently has two restaurants in London at Brixton Market and BoxPark, Shoreditch.

Under the Franchise Agreement, the Company intends to open a new Bukowski restaurant (the "Franchise Restaurant") on D'Arblay Street in Soho, London.  The Company already holds a 15 year lease on the site through its wholly owned subsidiary, 10 DAS Limited. Fit-out of the site is expected to commence shortly, with the Franchise Restaurant expected to open in early 2016. Total fit out costs are expected to be in the region of £500,000.

Under the Franchise Agreement, Fulham Shore will pay to Bukowski Ltd an upfront franchise fee of £8,500 and an ongoing franchise royalty calculated at the rate of 5% of the Franchise Restaurant's revenue.  The Franchise Agreement is for an initial period of three years, at the expiry of which the Company will be free to renew or cancel the Franchise Agreement at no additional cost. Under the terms of the Franchise Agreement, the Company will source and purchase relevant ingredients and prepared products for the Franchise Restaurant at an agreed price from the Bukowski Ltd's central kitchen.

In addition, through Fulham Shore's existing supply arrangements with an independent third party, Bukowski Ltd's central kitchen will now prepare and supply certain ingredients to the Company's Franco Manca restaurants at an agreed price through the independent third party (the "Supply Arrangements").  The Board of Fulham Shore anticipates that the value of these ingredients will initially be circa £200,000 per annum.

David Page and Nabil Mankarious, both of whom are directors of Fulham Shore, are both significant shareholders in Bukowski Ltd (holding between them 31.6% of Bukowski Ltd's issued share capital) and Nabil Mankarious is a director of Bukowski Ltd.  As a result, the entry into the Franchise Agreement and the Supply Arrangements by Fulham Shore constitute related party transactions under the AIM Rules for Companies.  The independent directors of Fulham Shore (being Nicholas Donaldson, Martin Chapman and Nicholas Wong), having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Allenby Capital Limited, consider that the terms of the Franchise Agreement and the Supply Arrangements are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

Restaurant openings update

In the financial year to date, Fulham Shore has opened:

1 The Real Greek restaurant at St Martin's Lane in London's West End; and

5 Franco Manca pizzerias in Soho, Ealing, Bermondsey, Earls Court and Covent Garden.

This takes Fulham Shore's restaurant portfolio to 26 restaurants made up of 9 The Real Greek and 17 Franco Manca.

David Page, Executive Chairman of Fulham Shore commented:

'We are thrilled to be opening a Bukowski in Soho. Bukowski sells great breakfasts, burgers, ribs and steak accompanied by delicious beer and wine. This three year franchise agreement will add to Fulham Shore's exposure to, and knowledge of, the exciting and thriving London restaurant market."

For Further information please contact:

The Fulham Shore plc	www.fulhamshore.com
David Page	Tel: [phone]
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Nick Naylor / Jeremy Porter / James Reeve	Tel: [phone]

Notes for editors

Information on Bukowski

Bukowski Grill opened in 2011, and was a collaboration between Robin Freeman, ex- Head Chef at Blacks, the Soho private members club, and Giuseppe Mascoli, Blacks' former owner and founder of Franco Manca.

Inspired by the American diner, its menu showcases carefully-sourced British produce cooked over charcoal in a Josper oven.

The first site, in BoxPark, Shoreditch, boasted an Americana soundtrack and focused on hamburgers with all condiments (ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and chilli sauce) being made in-house, complementing rare-breed hamburgers and triple-cooked beef dripping chips.

Adventurous toppings became a Bukowski trademark.  These include: the X-mass Burger with confit pork belly, Morbier cheese, pickled red cabbage and chilli-pickled Brussels sprouts and The Fat Gringo, with Jalapeno Mustard, Monterey Jack, candied bacon and Smoked Gherkins.

A larger second site in Brixton Market opened in 2012, offering the chance to extend the diner concept to include dishes like 72 hour-cooked beef short ribs with tobacco onions; Korean confit duck and pulled pork nuggets with kimchi remoulade; and Swaledale lamb cutlets with smoked chili jelly.

With weekly changing black board specials, beer from local breweries and an expanding list of bottled and aged cocktails, Bukowski Brixton established itself as an innovative grill restaurant with a large and loyal customer base.

The new site in D'Arblay Street, Soho, will offer an all-day menu: weekday breakfasts, weekend brunches, and extended food and drink menus at both lunch and dinner.

Typical brunch dishes will include chicken, waffles, fried egg and chilli maple syrup; cornmeal-crusted soft shell crabs; and poached eggs with hot sauce hollandaise. Cocktails include breakfast margaritas, Darjeeling gin sours and bespoke Bloody Marys, as well as coffee, tea, iced tea and fresh juices.

New dishes on the dinner menu will include confit duck BBQ cassoulet; smoked shrimp, avocado, red onion and little gem salad with jalapeño dressing; Reuben hash; and deep-fried lamb neck with lime pickle mayo.

Alongside these will be a daily changing blackboard of specials and an extended drinks offering.

Information on The Fulham Shore PLC

Fulham Shore was incorporated in March 2012. The Directors believe that there are a number of potentially attractive investment opportunities within the restaurant and food service sectors in the UK.

The Directors believe that, given their collective experience in the restaurant and food service sectors, they can take advantage of the opportunities which exist in these sectors and create a profitable and sustainable business.

The ordinary shares of the Company were admitted to trading on AIM in October 2014 in order to capitalise on such opportunities.

Today Fulham Shore currently operates "The Real Greek" (www.therealgreek.com) and "Franco Manca" (www.francomanca.co.uk).

 

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