Taking over the high street
Published: 16 July 2018
Select Service Partner (SSP) is involved with over 400 brands, and you've almost certainly eaten in one of them. Head of franchising Kerry Bhella reveals the expansion plans of Millie's Cookies, Ritazza and Upper Crust
While you may not have heard of parent company SSP (Select Service Partner) it’s highly likely that you've seen – or sampled the wares of – one of its well-known household names: Upper Crust, Ritazza and Millie's Cookies. The former two brands are most recognised from their widespread presence in railway stations and airports and the latter from concessions in shopping centres or outlets in high streets.
SSP is now franchising these brands throughout the country, with Upper Crust and Ritazza pushing beyond their traditional settings of travel hubs. As a partner in franchising, SSP brings multiple strengths, not least of which is head of franchising Kerry Bhella, who joined SSP after franchise roles with, among others, Burger King and the British Franchise Association. So Kerry knows a thing or two about ethical franchising and understands exactly what makes a franchise brand a success.
SSP has over 50 years of experience in food and retail sector, centred largely on travel hubs, and has over 400 brands in its portfolio. Little wonder then that SSP knows its customer base inside out. With access to comprehensive, large-budget research and development and trend forecasting, its knowledge and expertise of the markets it operates in is second to none. SSP can intuit what clients need and want before even they do!
It's said that some businesses are good at being local and some are good at being international. It's hard to excel at both but SSP does. SSP's USPs include:
- Constructing the best brand line-up to meet the needs of the environment (based on local understanding, consumer insight and knowledge of food trends)
- Bringing operational expertise in a challenging environment to ensure customer service is exceptional
- Tailoring brands and food off ers for the environment
- Recruitment, training and managing of local teams to the right level of expertise
- Working with world-class chefs to create bespoke off ers that reflect the heritage of the country or region they operate in
- Setting up the local supply chain to source the best quality produce to deliver both local and international brands
- £3billion turnover business
SSP lays claim to operating on a truly global scale where "we can take ideas and innovations from the other side of the globe and share... We can create completely new and ground-breaking concepts based on our huge depth of food and beverage knowledge".
With a global head office in Euston, London, and 19 offices around the world, SSP's reach into the travel market is vast.The brand awareness of its food retail names, Millie's Cookies, Upper Crust and Ritazza, means that it is now ideally poised to take on the high street and beyond.
Kerry Bhella explains this global-yet-local phenomenon. "We listen to our clients, franchisees and customers across the globe to deliver a bespoke off er. This is a fast-paced sector, so we are also looking to learn, adapt and grow, which is key to our success." Where a brand doesn't 'translate' to a new region, SSP will carry out research and cater to the hospitality and desires of the local audience. "That's our global reach. We're a £3billion turnover business." Kerry talked to Business Franchise in depth about the potential UK and international franchise investment opportunities with SSP brands.
What benefits do franchisees reap by working with SSP?
"The biggest thing is that these are such well-established brands. Millie's, for example – we operate nearly 100 stores – so when a franchisee takes a Millie's store with us, everything, from décor to supply chain to POS to training, it's all done inhouse, because we've got that range, that expertise. "With all the brands, we handhold on the fi tout and launch side – supplier agreements, contractors, for instance. On the marketing side, we have a marketing manager working closely with our franchises on strategy. The franchisees have access to the SSP online portals, which host all of the creative. So when the franchisees want to do local marketing, all photography, graphics, pictures, text and previous artwork is there, which they can download and send back to us for approval.
"Franchisees and staff are trained inhouse by us in our stores on everything they need to deliver to the standards we maintain. There's always someone there to help – a portal with all our operations and brand guideline manuals. Chat groups, too! The health and safety, operations and marketing teams are on there, it's a big support mechanism. So, if you don't understand something, there's someone to ask – there are no stupid questions.
"It's a turnkey franchise for them. We've got all the logistics lined up! We also have an in-house legal team, who deal with all our franchise agreements making the process simpler. We work hard to make sure our franchisees have all the tools they need to be successful."
Where are you looking to expand?
"Everywhere, really! It's a massive opportunity for our brands in the retail high-street space. It's not an area that we've gone into and captured… yet!
"Upper Crust and Ritazza are such well known brands from the travel locations that they'll be a natural fi t for the high street and other retail spaces: motorway services, petrol stations, outdoor retail parks and so on. Because we're newer to the [high street] market, we don't have the territory restrictions. But because people recognise, say, Upper Crust straight away, the brands have that recognition factor to launch in that next stage, the retail environment – and that's where franchisees come in.
"We'll work with multi-unit operators to establish a pipeline of sites in their chosen area. We know it works because we have franchises established internationally – Romania, the master franchise sold in India – and they're doing well."
Are you confident about the future of retail?
"In terms of the health of the high street, the demographic customer for Millie's Cookies, for instance, they do go out shopping. People want to have that 'look and feel' tactile thing, especially when it comes to the occasion days – Mother's Day, Valentine's – they still want to go in the shops to see what they're choosing.
Our franchisees are also fortuitous in that they're always looking for new ideas – and we're open to listening. Plus, cookie sales are on the rise and are forecast to grow over the next few years!
"So we're not seeing any of that negativity. If you keep up with product trends and on top of customer feedback, you can stay fresh and thrive in those kinds of environments."
