As a matter of fact, Wok to Walk turns 20 in better shape than ever: with a renewed image and menu offering, consolidated as N1 in Europe and with an ambitious expansion plan for the UK. “We understand the current trend in the British economy is not its brightest, but we are building for the future. We foresee a very promising scenario coming up, and want to be ready when it lands. To that end, we have optimised and renewed our model to maximise profitability and satisfy the market’s needs, and we are ready to boost our growth in the UK”, Lev says.
Optimization was a natural process of adaptation to an ever-changing landscape. In these 20 years, the franchise has enjoyed moments of bonanza but also had to overcome all sorts of historical moments, including 2 global economic crashes and a pandemic, the Brexit and the current geopolitical situation.
Getting through each of these difficulties took its toll, but both the company and its franchisees came out of them stronger and improved. Results speak for themselves: even in the current context, their customers remain loyal and average orders are going up.
Part of that growth is thanks to the power changes the brand has implemented on their branding and menu. CMO Cristina Piera says “renovating an iconic brand is not easy. One needs to find the balance between staying true to the core, while connecting it with the future. The food offering, the universe and experience… It’s a very rich mix that needs to be tackled with precision”. Several examples of this challenge have made it to headlines in the past years. Wok to Walk’s case seems to have found the right touch, according to results: “The new menu and branding has been doing extremely well”, says the London area manager.
“Our customers are very excited about the new offering and have not complained about price increases”, agree both Leeds and Manchester franchisees.
Average ticket and turnover have grown in all the restaurants that implemented changes, a trend that is confirmed by results in other countries. And customer satisfaction is also growing, as an ongoing market research shows.
At the moment of turning 20, Wok to Walk is backed by the power and expertise of Toridoll Holdings, operates restaurants in 3 continents and plans on making the UK their biggest territory. With London leading the way, the wok chain currently operates venues in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff and Coventry.
Their expansion plan will start by duplicating their current footprint, which will be facilitated by the extreme flexibility of their model: “we rock crack-in-the-walls and large sit down units; high-street hyperactivity and chill neighbourhood restaurants; flagships, shopping malls and even airport venues. Our model can work literally anywhere as long as it’s a prime location” explains Lev.
This article comes courtesy of Wok To Walk.
