Posted:11-February-2022
CAMILE THAI KITCHEN'S FIRST LONDON FRANCHISEE CELEBRATES FIRST YEAR IN BUSINESS - AND SEEKS SITE FOR SECOND LOCATION
Camile Thai Kitchen, the UK and Ireland’s fastest growing Thai restaurant chain, together with their first London franchisee Rakesh Gopalakrishnan, are celebrating a first year in business together. Camile Thai has over 35 restaurant locations across the UK and Ireland and is known for its healthy Thai food, delivered expertly to its customers. With over 19 years of experience within the hospitality industry, Rakesh has an intimate knowledge of the store he recently acquired, as he was managing it for over a year, prior to purchasing it. We spoke with Rakesh to find out how the first year went.
Where were you working before Camile?
My last job before joining Camile was as a Multi-Site Manager at a chain of restaurants based in London. Prior to that, I worked as a General Manager in London’s West end with a group of Thai restaurants. Although I started my career working in hotels, most of my experience comes from managing high volume restaurants across various parts of the country.
How has your first year as a business owner been?
I had no idea a global pandemic was going to hit us, that’s for sure, and I have spent this first year being grateful that our business has been so far relatively pandemic proof – based in residential suburbs, and with more than 70% of our business home delivered prior to the pandemic – meant we just ramped up what we were already doing, to cope with the increased business that the pandemic has brought. I have learnt a lot, and with the support of my franchisor, have made steady improvements to the business, and am seeing the benefit of that through increased profitability.
And what about the future?
I’m really keen to open a second Camile ASAP. There are good growth opportunities in London now, and I want to take advantage of some of them, before they are snapped up.
Interested and want to know more about Camile Thai ?
The Camile Thai profile outlines all aspects of their franchise opportunity and allows you to contact them for further information or to ask a question.
