EP Magazine

New wave Britannia?

It has been a long-held belief that London is an extension of the US rather than a true part of Europe and in the past this has probably been true. However, many believe Europe has become increasingly influential and that America’s hold has been eroded. Is this true?

It is clear that theUS has held great influence over theUK in terms of politics, economics and even fashion and trends. There is an old saying – London is just an  extension of New York “one year behind”. Look at the great debates over the US-UK political axis under Reagan-Thatcher or Bush-Blair, the influence ofHollywood and themany US-influenced hotel and restaurant chains with innovations.

But has this gradually changed over time? Is London still just an extension, or is it really a global centre influenced bymany cultures?Has the increased presence of European companies in theUK changed the dynamics? To find out, EP spoke to a number of key industry players. As one would expect, each had a different perspective and viewpoint.

Robert Cook, CEO, Malmaison and Hotel du Vin

“I think from a hotel perspective we did look to the States for inspiration, but now it is case of what is happening in theUK. The Soho House Company and  FirmdaleHotels are good examples of companies where British brands are leading the way. I aimto travel to the States once a year and, except for one-offs,
there is no stand-out hotel brand at present. The same applies in Europe with the exception of CitizenM in Amsterdam, which I think is an interesting and inspirational brand. So theUK is being innovative on the hotel front and openings like Dean Street Townhouse are setting the pace.However, froma restaurants perspective, I think that London is ahead of Paris but thatNewYork still leads the way. It is a buzzing city and has beenmy inspiration in creating concepts for some of our hotels such as a steakhouse restaurant inMalmaison Aberdeen. The States leads the way froman F&B perspective inmy view. It’s NewYork, London then Paris, whereas it was previously Paris, London, NewYork.”

Richard Hartman, Chief Executive, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels

“I think theUS has had a profound impact on the hotel sector in the past 20 years, particularly through segmentation. All-suite concepts, limited service and budget brands were founded in the US; there were hotels in Europe of that nature, but these were more defined as a segment in the US. The US created a need for brands. In themid-‘80s the idea that brands would drive distribution was secondary to the idea that location would drive distribution.Now, the proliferation of hotels in the UK in the past 15 years have largely been in the budget and limited servicemarket, and they are brands, whether it is home-grown through Travelodge or Premier Inn, or imported like Ramada Encore orHoliday Inn Express. Conversely the influence of luxury hotels is a product of the European market, and I think that the US has adopted these concepts, particularly in the application of standards and a service culture. Of course business today ismore global – the influence of Asia has increased as their hotel standards have evolved over a period of time.”

Peter Lederer, Chairman, Gleneagles

“One part ofme says that I do not look exclusively to either the US or Europe. Customers are coming from all over the world, so I look to these markets in order to understand their influences. TheUK industry is expert at the ‘CASE’ principle (copy and steal everything). I think we are quite narrow as an industry and look at local competitors rather than further afield. In theUK, both Europe and the US have influence but I believe we need to look further than that. The economic recovery will be ‘three-speed’ – Asia is growing well, the US is getting on its feet and Europe is arguably yet to see any growth at all. So, it is important to understand what is  happening globally – the world will not be the same again.”

Ian Daly, Chairman, Lindley Group

“I think that there is no dimming of US brands in the UK and there have recently been announcements about new entrants, such as Ruby Tuesday. Its influence exists and I amnot sure it will every go away, although this does notmean it will be successful. What I have noticed is that European brands are giving more style andmore product quality; some brands, such as Le Pain Quotidien,Vapiano andWagamama are nowmaking their way in the States, which is quite an achievement in the most competitive eating-outmarket in the world. However, whether expanding into theUS or elsewhere, you have to be very clear that your operation will work in a foreign country, so understanding the local culture is vital. There is no point putting an operation into an international location without adjusting to the behaviours of the local culture. Ironically it is McDonald’s that has understood this pointmost successfully. It has not destroyed the integrity of its brand, but been flexible
with products.”

Jean-Michel Orieux, Managing Director, pingpong Group

“The ’80s and early ’90s were heavily dominated by US restaurant culture. The rapid growth and almost cult status of brands like Chicago Rib Shack, TGI  Friday’s,Deep Dish Pizza and Hard Rock Cafémeant that American-style service and ‘US style food’ started to dominate the UK marketplace. This spurred on the birth ofmany brands in the UK based on this style, such as Frankie & Benny’s. TheUS style of food caught on everywhere – with evenmediocre British chains such as Little Chef ‘Americanising’ their offering. In supermarkets the influence was everywhere, with a lot of chains even launching their own sauces and frozen products.  The US sway has now strongly faded with a huge swing towards European-style coffee shops. European pastries are seen as indulgent, but classier and more in line with theHip Britannia. The amazing emergence of Poilane bread in theUK, themeteoric rise of Paul, Le Pain Quotidien as well as the emergence of the GU range  changed the way we are considering this segment of the foodmarket. All the above were born in Europe. Italian has become the food of choice, followed by noodles, sushi and more recently some innovative concepts such asWahaca and pingpong. Although New York is still showing some strong signs of innovation, Europe has woken up in the last 10 years and is taking a strong lead at developing concepts that inmany cases can be exported and benefit frominternational growth.”

Duncan Ackery, Restaurateur

“In terms of London’s love affair with Italian and French restaurants, I think that this is as strong as ever. Restaurants in this category such The Wolseley, Bob Bob Ricard and Terroirs have very strong European formats and they just keep going. What is interesting is howBritish confidence in applying its own take on a cuisine has  developed.Concepts like Wagamama have a very British take on the Japanese cuisine. So a brasseriemay still serve French cuisine, but they are adding a British twist. I think that looking at newconcepts coming  through in theUK, they have been influenced by theUS or North America, such as Wahaca and Ed’s EasyDiner – however, these are not fromtheUS and once again have a British take. I think barbecue will take off in the UK. It’smuchmore about taking the best of what overseas has to offer and increasinglywhat’s interesting is howit’s adapted to the UK market.”

US v. Europe – some facts and figures

• There are only 22 US quick-service or full-service chains with five or more outlets in Europe (excluding retail, hotels and contract catering)
  • 14 in quick-service and seven in the full-service sector
  • this equates to 16,260 outlets (versus 111,100 in US) or 1.4% of Europe’s QSR market
  • of these 40 percent are McDonald’s outlets equating to 40 percent of the ‘US’ European market
  • full-service brands include: TGI Friday’s and Tony Roma’s, yet Wendy’s (number three
    in the US) and other well-known US brands are not represented in Europe
• The top five food service operators by turnover in Europe are McDonald’s, Compass, Sodexo, Elior and Mitchells & Butler – only two out of five are high-street brands
• The top five food service operators by turnover in the US are McDonald’s, Yum!, Burger King, Subway and Wendy’s – interestingly all are high-street brands

Source: Horizons