Simon C. Email & Phone Number

London, Gb

Leading the franchise division at Itsu, responsible for the strategic growth and development of both UK and international franchising operations. Key achievements include: • Spearheading the global franchise expansion strategy for Itsu, focusing on both new markets and existing franchisee support. • Driving franchisee recruitment, onboarding, and operational support to ensure brand consistency and profitability across all locations. • Collaborating with cross-functional teams (marketing, real estate, operations) to tailor regional franchise strategies and increase brand awareness. • Delivering comprehensive training and development programs for franchise partners to ensure operational excellence. • Managing and mentoring franchise managers, ensuring that KPIs are met and franchisee profitability is maximized.

Freelance Consultant | F&B Strategy & Brand Development ExpertWorking with F&B businesses and entrepreneurs to create, launch, and scale innovative food and restaurant concepts, both in the UK and internationally. Leveraging over 20 years of industry experience, I provide strategic guidance and hands-on support across all stages of brand development, from initial concept design and operational setup to market entry and commercial growth. My expertise spans concept creation, franchising, team leadership, and optimising operational performance to ensure long-term success and profitability in competitive markets.

London, United Kingdom

Managing Director, Jamie Oliver Group12/2007 – 12/2013Appointed to lead the creation and launch of Jamie Oliver’s fresh food and high street retail concept, driving the brand to award-winning success. Led the full-scale development and commercialisation of the brand, transforming it into a scalable, growth-driven model. Key strategic accomplishments include: • Concept Leadership: Spearheaded the development of the brand and store design, from initial concept to operational execution. Oversaw the creation of the brand identity, customer experience, and interior concept, ensuring alignment with Jamie Oliver’s ethos of high-quality, accessible fresh food. • Financial Oversight & Growth Strategy: Managed budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning, delivering consistent growth while meeting all budget targets. Developed and commercialised the concept into a sustainable growth model, driving both profitability and brand expansion. • Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Recruited and led a high-performing, cross-functional team across Operations, Food, Nutrition, Marketing, Finance, and Learning & Development, ensuring alignment of all departments towards shared business objectives. • Operational Excellence: Directed the set-up of operational processes and systems to ensure consistent, high-quality service and product delivery across all locations. • People Development & Compliance: Oversaw all people functions driving recruitment, training, staff development, and legal compliance, and fostering a culture of accountability and high performance.This strategic leadership role played a pivotal part in launching and scaling the Jamie Oliver brand, ensuring long-term success while maintaining the integrity of its mission to offer quality food in a high street environment.

London, United Kingdom

Regional Director of Operations, Starbucks Coffee Company01/2003 – 10/2006Led operations for 80 Starbucks stores across 10 districts in London’s West End, overseeing a team of district managers and store managers to drive performance, profitability, and customer experience in a highly dynamic, competitive market. Key achievements include: • Leadership & Operational Excellence: Managed day-to-day operations, ensuring consistent delivery of brand standards and KPIs across a diverse and high-traffic portfolio. Motivated and developed a high-performing team, resulting in sustained growth across comparable sales, payroll control, and food profitability. • KPI Performance: Delivered exceptional results across all major KPIs, with a particular focus on improving sales, optimising payroll, and enhancing food profitability, positioning the region as one of the highest-performing in the UK. • Leadership Development & Talent Management: Successfully identified and developed high-potential site managers into district leadership roles, building a strong bench of future leaders and fostering a culture of growth and internal promotion within the business. • Culture & Engagement: Established a culture of reward and recognition, motivating teams to achieve operational targets while promoting a customer-centric approach and high levels of employee engagement. • Strategic Real Estate & Store Development: Acted as the operational lead on new store acquisitions, collaborating closely with the real estate and design teams. Played a key role in the development and design of over 200 new stores and 50 renovations, ensuring operational feasibility and a seamless customer experience. • Innovation & Process Improvement: Worked cross-functionally with the design team to innovate the store experience, enhancing both the efficiency of store layouts and the overall customer journey, leading to improved store performance and customer satisfaction.