PAUL UK, the French artisan bakery chain with 38 outlets, has announced that it is now offering franchises as it aims to roll-out its bakery brand nationally.
The company sees its tried and tested operation, proven in multiple countries, with a BRC accredited bakery production site, providing franchisees with a national supply chain, economies of scale, and a flexible retail format suitable for variety of locations from service stations and transport hubs to town and city centres, as well as suburban villages.
PAUL’s franchise offering consists of a choice of three distinct store models – Café, Express and Kiosk.
- Café (1,500 sq. ft.+) – typically situated in busy footfall locations in towns or shopping centres, provide a warm relaxing place for friends and families to enjoy breakfast, lunch, coffee or just an afternoon snack.
- Express (500-800 sq. ft.+) – positioned to fit in travel hubs and high footfall areas where a quick service is essential with coffee and Grab & Go items a core offering. The product range is also smaller, to focus on all day refuelling to enjoy whilst on the move. Its casual service style and self-service, a little eat-in space and yellow branding differentiates PAUL Express to highlight the importance of speed.
- Kiosk (500 sq. ft.+) – ancillary to a main café outlet. ‘PODs’ are serviced by a main shop and can be used to promote sales growth in high footfall areas such as train stations and shopping centres. The kiosks can be designed to look like more permanent fixtures, pop-up venues or grab-and-go concepts utilising smaller retail space.
The company says that its franchisees will be fully supported throughout the entire set-up process, from training courses and help with recruitment, through to marketing and PR.
Mark Hilton, chief executive of PAUL UK, comments: “As we enter the franchise market, we will be looking for like-minded, experienced investors and operators who are just as passionate about baking and quality as we are.
“Whilst we continue to grow the brand in London, we have also identified numerous national opportunities outside of the capital, which will be enabled predominantly, although not exclusively, by working with franchise partners. We are currently determining priority cities, but if approached by the right investors outside of these areas, we are open to having dialogue with them.”
PAUL has been baking bread and pastries for 130 years in France and has traded in London for the last 20 years and in Oxford for over six years. The company explains that its heritage remains strong, despite the brand expanding with new store openings, as it continues to evolve to meet the needs of consumers today for convenience, ease of access, product quality, variety and value.
franchise@paul-uk.com
www.paul-uk.com/franchise