What was the up-market fast-food chain started in 1986 by Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe?
"top 50 most exciting fast-growth companies. In December 2014, Metcalfe’s Food Company were ranked at number 4 in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. Metcalfe's Food Company Metcalfe’s Food Company was a privately owned food business set up in 2010 by Julian Metcalfe, the founder of the sandwich chain Pret A Manger and Robert Jakobi. Metcalfe’s Food Company sold products under two brands Metcalfe's Skinny and itsu grocery. The company enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of over 200% in revenues between 2011 and 2014. In February 2014 the company had forecast to achieve £50 Million in sales within the"
"seasonal ingredients, advertising that their food is freshly made every day in the kitchen at each store. Most orders are delivered by bicycle. Pure (fast food chain) Pure is a fast food chain based in London, United Kingdom. It serves sandwiches, drinks and breakfast items. The company was founded by Spencer Craig & Edward Bentley, with the first Pure store opening in Beak Street, Soho, in 2009. In 2015, Pure was included in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 as one of the fastest growing and profitable companies of 2015 with a 65% annual sales rise over 3 years. In"
"Pure (fast food chain) Pure is a fast food chain based in London, United Kingdom. It serves sandwiches, drinks and breakfast items. The company was founded by Spencer Craig & Edward Bentley, with the first Pure store opening in Beak Street, Soho, in 2009. In 2015, Pure was included in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 as one of the fastest growing and profitable companies of 2015 with a 65% annual sales rise over 3 years. In 2016 Whitbread, the FTSE 100 leisure group behind Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, bought a 49 per cent stake in the company, acquired"
"content of fast food pies has varied, with poultry (such as chickens) or wildfowl commonly being used. Since the Second World War, turkey has been used more frequently in fast food. The UK has adopted fast food from other cultures as well, such as pizza, doner kebab, and curry. More recently, healthier alternatives to conventional fast food have also emerged. As automobiles became popular and more affordable following World War I, drive-in restaurants were introduced. The American company White Castle, founded by Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson in Wichita, Kansas in 1921, is generally credited with opening the second fast"
"Street in London. Beecham and Metcalfe had met while studying at University. The pair pioneered the chain's menu of handmade natural food, freshly prepared in shop kitchens, and they are still significant shareholders in the company. The iconic logo was created by Adrian Kilby, founder of The Formation Creative Consultants Europe Ltd in the 1990s. In 1995 Metcalfe and Beecham set up the Pret Foundation Trust with the aim to alleviate poverty in the UK. The Trust receives donations from the sale of products and collection boxes in shops. The donations fund Pret's ""Charity Run"" vans which deliver unsold food"
"3 years. As of December 2014, Metcalfe's Food Company were the fastest-growing, privately-owned food and drink company in the UK. In January 2016 Diamond Foods acquired a minority stake in Metcalfe’s skinny. The investment will help to maximise the growth potential of the brand in the UK and Europe. In September 2016 the new owner of Kettle Foods Snyder's-Lance, Inc. acquired the remainder of the business. In April 2017 Jakobi launched BOU, a range of better-for-you bouillon cubes into the US market. AccelFoods, an investment fund focused on food and beverage startups, are the lead investor. In December 2013, Metcalfe's"
"as part of its menu. In Ireland, Abrakebabra (started out selling kebabs) and Eddie Rocket's are also major chains. An original and indigenous rival to the big two U.S. giants was the quintessentially British fast-food chain Wimpy, originally known as Wimpy Bar (opened 1954 at the Lyon's Corner House in Coventry Street London), which served its hamburgers on a plate with British-style chips, accompanied by cutlery and delivered to the customer's table. In the late 1970s, to compete with McDonald's, Wimpy began to open American-style counter-service restaurants and the brand disappeared from many UK high streets when those restaurants were"
"of three restaurants. The chain was expanded by a system of non-exclusive franchises, which later was ruled unlawful by a federal court. Butler built Naugles up to 225 restaurants by 1986, when he sold the chain to Collins Foods International. Naugles merged with Del Taco in 1988 when businessman Aniwar Soliman purchased both companies at nearly the same time. A few of the Naugles menu items, such as those with the ""Macho"" designation, found their way into the regular Del Taco menu. Also, the Naugles Taco Sandwich (Del Taco called it a ""bun taco"") can still be ordered from Del"
"and an ESOP program. The peak of success of the Victoria Station restaurant chain took place at the time of the culmination of a joint venture with Universal Studios, which resulted in the opening of Victoria Station Universal City, a location on the ""hill"" near where ""Citywalk"" now stands. At its peak, the Universal City location of Victoria Station was among the highest grossing restaurants in the United States. The U.S. operations of the Victoria Station chain began running into financial difficulties in the mid-1980s, causing gradual shutdowns of the franchise restaurants. In May 1986, the company filed for Chapter"
"competitors and emulators. What is certain, however, is that White Castle made the first significant effort to standardize the food production in, look of, and operation of fast-food hamburger restaurants. William Ingram's and Walter Anderson's White Castle System created the first fast food supply chain to provide meat, buns, paper goods, and other supplies to their restaurants, pioneered the concept of the multi-state hamburger restaurant chain, standardized the look and construction of the restaurants themselves, and even developed a construction division that manufactured and built the chain's prefabricated restaurant buildings. The McDonald's Speedee Service System and, much later, Ray Kroc's"
"January 2016 Kettle Chips bought a 26% stake in the business, with Kettle Chips owner Snyders - Lance purchasing the remaining 74% stake in September 2016, leading to founder Metcalfe leaving the business. In November 2016 a new pack design was launched and references to Julian Metcalfe and Pret were removed from both the new packaging and the website. The company offers a number of corn based healthy snack products under the Metcalfe's Skinny brand, which include Metcalfes Skinny Metcalfe's Skinny is a healthy snack food business set up in 2009 by Julian Metcalfe and since September 2016 fully owned"
"Hotcha (company) Hotcha was a take-away restaurant chain that serves Chinese cuisine. The chain was founded by James Liang and Andy Chan in 2011, and is headquartered in Bristol, England. In 2014, it was reported that Hotcha was the largest Chinese takeaway chain in Britain provided by the Tsang Corporation. Hotcha went into administration on the 18th October 2017. Hotcha was founded in 2011 by James Liang and Andy Chan, the two met in college and previously ran an import business until economic conditions forced them out of the market. The pair chose to start a Chinese cuisine takeaway after"
"and moved to Tucson, Arizona. During Soshnick's ownership the restaurant became a popular hangout for jazz musicians in the 1950s and 1960s. The Beefsteak Charlie's restaurant chain was started in early 1976 by restaurateur Larry Ellman, whose Steak & Brew chain (part of the Longchamps organization) had filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in fall 1975: Steak & Brew, Inc., was renamed Beefsteak Charlies, Inc., many Steak & Brew locations were converted into Beefsteak Charlie's. As the chain first filed for a trademark on the ""Beefsteak Charlie's"" name in March 1976, and no prior trademark existed, it appears there was no"
"2003 that some of its initial research into adult marketing was recycled in the development of its successful line of salads. Similar products from other fast food vendors: Arch Deluxe The Arch Deluxe was a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's in 1996 and marketed specifically to adults. It was soon discontinued after failing to become popular despite a massive marketing campaign and now is considered one of the most expensive flops of all time. The Arch Deluxe was a quarter pound of beef on a split-top potato flour sesame seed bun, topped with a circular"
"Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers (commonly known as Cane’s) is a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in chicken fingers, that was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Todd Graves and Craig Silvey on August 26, 1996. While company headquarters remain in Louisiana, a second restaurant support office was opened in Plano, Texas in 2009. Todd Graves first started dreaming of his very own restaurant in the early 1990s. Craig Silvey, an initial partner in Todd's plan, was enrolled in a business plan writing course at LSU at the time. They wrote the business plan and Silvey turned it"
"and KFC opened fast food restaurants in 2002. Next and later TK Maxx, Outfit, Boots and Mamas & Papas opened in the refurbished phase next to Currys after they moved to the site, with the Next store being the first unit to open in this phase in late 2005. Both Currys and PC World are now known as 'Megastores'. In 2016, successful German supermarket chain Lidl opened a new distribution centre just off Wood Green Road, on land near Junction 9 Retail Park. New stores, including a Marks and Spencer Simply Food supermarket, Nandos, Smash Burger and Costa are due"
"location now remains, though Hot 'n Now's popular Olive Burger and cheesy tots are still on the menu at the Bay City location, now known as Burger 81. The chain briefly used the characters from ""Mad"" magazine's ""Spy vs. Spy"" in its advertising. Hot 'n Now Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant chain based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and was then sold to STEN Corporation. As of"
"Hot 'n Now Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant chain based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and was then sold to STEN Corporation. As of September 9, 2016, only the Sturgis, Michigan location remains in operation. The majority of the chain's locations focused entirely on drive-thru service, featuring a small-footprint building with a tall, slanted roof style. Some previous locations were more traditional fast-food locations, complete with seating,"
"also sold the controversial weight loss dietary supplement Dexatrim. In 1987, Abraham took the brand private, and it was acquired by Unilever in 2000. In 2014, Unilever sold SlimFast to Kainos Capital. After the sale, KSF Acquisition invested with Kainos Capital in order to take responsibility for the SlimFast brand in the UK, Ireland and Germany. In 2014, Kainos Capital acquired SlimFast from Unilever and appointed new CEO Chris Tisi. SlimFast's product lines span three distinctive eras: those of the original product line (shakes only), the low-carb product line introduced in response to the low-carb diet craze initiated by the"
"Shake Shack Shake Shack () is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in New York City. It started out as a hot dog cart inside Madison Square Park in 2001, and its popularity steadily grew. In 2004, it moved to a stand within the park, expanding its menu from New York-style hotdogs to one with hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and its namesake milkshakes. The company advertises it uses natural, hormone and antibiotic free Angus beef. Since its founding, it has been one of the fastest-growing food chains eventually becoming a public company filing for an initial public offering of stock"
"jokes about Pup 'N' Taco in his ""Tonight Show"" monologue during the 1970s and '80s. Pup 'N' Taco Pup 'N' Taco (also spelled with a lower case 'n') was a privately owned chain of fast-food restaurants in Southern California; the chain's headquarters were located in Long Beach, California. The business was begun by Russell Wendell in 1956 as a drive-in restaurant that served tacos, hot dogs, and pastrami sandwiches. Russell already owned Big DoNut, a chain of successful doughnut stores in Los Angeles that featured gigantic doughnuts atop a drive-in bakery. The first officially branded Pup 'N' Taco was opened"
"announced plans to serve chicken raised without antibiotics in its restaurants nationwide within five years. Chick-fil-A is the first quick service restaurant to set forth a plan and commit to serving only poultry raised without antibiotics. Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a play on the American English pronunciation of ""fillet"") is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in the city of College Park, Georgia, specializing in chicken sandwiches. Founded in May 1946, it operates more than 2,200 restaurants, primarily in the United States. The restaurant serves breakfast before transitioning to its lunch and dinner menu. Chick-fil-A also offers customers catered"
"after coffee-loving characters in Samuel Pepys' diary. Tesco took full ownership of the business from its founders Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley in February 2016, and agreed in June 2016 to sell it to Caffè Nero. Giraffe is a restaurant chain in the United Kingdom which Tesco purchased in March 2013 as part of a strategy of making use of excess space in its shops. Tesco sold the chain to Boparan Holdings in June 2016. Euphorium Bakery opened a concession in Tesco's Kensington shop in 2012, and in 2013 Tesco bought a stake in the business. It purchased the remaining"
"so named because they were smaller versions of Carl's original drive-in restaurant. That same year, the chain was officially renamed Carl's Jr. and the fast-food chain took off. In 2016, ""Entrepreneur"" listed Carl's Jr. as #54 on their Top Franchise 500 list, which ranks the overall financial strength, stability, and growth rate for the top 500 franchisees in any field across the United States. As of March 2016, CKE (the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's) has a total of 3,664 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 38 foreign countries and U.S. territories. In 1941, Carl Karcher"
"in the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. On September 28, 2009, James Degorski was found guilty of the murders. The massacre had an adverse effect on the entire Brown's Chicken chain. Sales at all restaurants dropped by 35 percent within months of the incident, and the company eventually closed 100 restaurants in the Chicago area. Brown's Chicken & Pasta Brown's Chicken & Pasta, also known simply as Brown's Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in fried chicken. It is based in the Chicago metropolitan area. The chain traces its origins to 1949, when John and Belva"
"that the Levittown area of Long Island shared a similar post war demographic to that of San Bernardino, he found a closed Mayflower coffee and donut shop in that town and, along with his younger brother Errol Wetanson, in 1959 at this location opened the first Wetson's. At its peak the Wetson's chain comprised over 70 restaurants. Wetson's struggled against the large national hamburger chains McDonald's and Burger King when they entered the New York metropolitan area market in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This led in 1975 to Wetson's merging with the Nathan's Famous fast-food chain, the closing"
"Morley, Armadale and Cannington. Fast Eddys takes its name from the Paul Newman fictional character (Fast) Eddie Felson in the 1961 US drama film The Hustler. Fast Eddys Fast Eddys is a fast food and restaurant chain operating in Perth, Western Australia and New South Wales and formerly in Adelaide, South Australia and Melbourne, Victoria. Fast Eddys was founded in 1979 at the west end of the Perth CBD, on the corner of Hay Street and Milligan Street by Christopher and Con Somas. In 2002 the company went into receivership, with most of the stores closing down. In 2003 the"
"now arguably more famous for their lemonades. Employees wear bright red and yellow uniforms, and can sometimes be spotted mashing lemons by hand to make the restaurant's lemonade. Barham died in 1991 from cancer and left the Hot Dog on a Stick franchise to his employees, making it the nation’s only 100 percent employee owned and operated fast food restaurant chain. Dave Barham Dave Barham (June 13, 1913 – March 25, 1991) was an American business entrepreneur who founded the fast-food chain, Hot Dog on a Stick. Barham is also credited with being the originator of the stick in the"
"in Leeds. In 2017, Julian Metcalfe confirmed his plans to launch its first restaurant in New York in July 2018. In March 2012, Metcalfe's Food Company, run by Robert Jakobi, launched the Itsu brand into retail under the name Itsu [grocery]. As of September 2013, the brand was worth £12 million. By the next month, Itsu groceries were selling 16 different products, including soups and noodles (including miso soup cups and noodle pots); snacks (including chocolate-covered edamame and rice cakes); sauces (including hoisin and teriyaki variants); and drinks. The Itsu [grocery] products are sold throughout the UK in places like"
"Wienerschnitzel Wienerschnitzel is an American fast food chain founded in 1961 (as ""Der Wienerschnitzel"") that specializes in hot dogs, also known as the World's Largest Hot Dog Chain. Wienerschnitzel locations are found predominantly in California and Texas, though others are located in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Washington. Outside the 50 states, there is a store located in Guam and one in Panama. The chain is recognizable by the A-frame style roofs of its older restaurants, similar to the original structures used by IHOP, Tastee-Freez, Nickerson Farms, and Whataburger. Structures that have been converted from Wienerschnitzels"
"Wienerschnitzel Wienerschnitzel is an American fast food chain founded in 1961 (as ""Der Wienerschnitzel"") that specializes in hot dogs, also known as the World's Largest Hot Dog Chain. Wienerschnitzel locations are found predominantly in California and Texas, though others are located in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Washington. Outside the 50 states, there is a store located in Guam and one in Panama. The chain is recognizable by the A-frame style roofs of its older restaurants, similar to the original structures used by IHOP, Tastee-Freez, Nickerson Farms, and Whataburger. Structures that have been converted from Wienerschnitzels"
"Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., with franchisees in the United States, Canada and since 2017, Australia and New Zealand. Carl Karcher (1917–2008) and his wife Margaret (1915–2006) founded the predecessor of Carl's Jr. in 1941, starting as a hot-dog cart in Los Angeles. In 1945, the Karchers moved to Anaheim, California, and opened their first full-service restaurant, Carl's Drive-In Barbecue. As the restaurant became successful, Carl expanded his business by opening the first two Carl's Jr. restaurants in Anaheim and nearby Brea in 1956. They were"
"drink brands including Tango, Top Deck, Corona, Quosh, as well as the UK franchises for Pepsi and 7 Up, to Britvic. The same year, Beecham acquired Norcliff Thayer from Revlon. As the turn of the century approached, more significant mergers began to occur. In 1989, The Beecham Group plc and SmithKline Beckman merged to form SmithKline Beecham plc. In 2000, SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoWellcome merged to form GlaxoSmithKline. A history of the company, ""Beechams, 1848–2000: From Pills to Pharmaceuticals"", written by Thomas Anthony Buchanan Corley, was published in 2011. Beecham Group The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company."