Hey Hot Potatoes,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hot Potato Newsletter!

November is here, I've just seen the Christmas lights going up for the first time, and somehow we're already approaching the end of another year. Where has the time gone?!

This week we're looking at how Chickpea Group is breathing new life into the traditional British pub, why the modern-day corner shop is becoming one of my favourite formats in hospitality and five stories worth knowing from the last fortnight.

In today's email: Chickpea's Pub Playbook, The New Corner Shop & Hospitality's Latest Moves

Read Time: Approx 4-5 mins

Sources: Propel Info, MCA Insight, Restaurant Online

Five hospitality stories worth knowing from the last fortnight.

Two lads selling jacket potatoes in Preston have become a national phenomenon. SpudBros, with six million social media followers, has opened a 2,190 sq ft flagship just off Regent Street in London.

Why it's interesting → Another example of how a simple product, combined with brilliant social media marketing, can become a serious hospitality business.

The founders of Notting Hill restaurant SINO are launching Sit With Us, a coffee shop and bakery with a dedicated drinks laboratory, experimenting with coffee, tea, fruit and botanicals.

Why it's interesting → As the coffee market becomes increasingly competitive, experimental drinks are becoming a big differentiator

Mission Mars, the group behind Rudy's Pizza and Albert's Schloss, has secured a new majority investor after growing from two Manchester venues to 44 locations across the UK.

The bigger picture → Despite challenging conditions, investors are still backing hospitality brands with strong identities and proven growth models.

Britain's leading hospitality groups recorded their strongest sales growth of the year in September, (source: NIQ) up 2.7% year-on-year. Pubs led the way with 3.8% growth, while restaurants enjoyed their best month since November 2024.

The bigger picture → An encouraging sign that consumer spending is picking up, although rising costs continue to put pressure on profitability.

London coffee brand Old Spike has opened its seventh café in Southwark, introducing a live dashboard showing customers how their purchases help people experiencing homelessness into employment.

Why it's interesting → A clever way to turn a brand's social mission into something tangible, giving customers another reason to choose them over competitors.

I bloody love a good pub, so how did three friends turn a single Wiltshire village pub into one of the South West's most exciting hospitality groups?

Back in 2019, siblings Ethan and Jordan Davids, alongside their school friend Tommy, took over The Bell & Crown in the small Wiltshire village of Zeals.

Their mission was simple - breathe new life into traditional British pubs by combining great food, characterful interiors and genuinely good hospitality. They’re essentially the Pig Hotels of pubs.

Fast forward to today, and Chickpea Group has grown into a collection of countryside pubs with rooms, alongside a pizza business and a separate portfolio of traditional boozers.

Numbers That Tell The Story:
👉 Founded in 2019
👉 10 food-led countryside pubs
👉 7 sites have accommodation with further expansion underway

Here's why it works:

🍺 Making the traditional pub exciting again - Rather than reinventing the British pub, they have focused on making it better. Think roaring fires, cosy interiors, excellent food and a relaxed atmosphere. Each pub retains its own identity rather than feeling like part of a chain.

🏡 Building multiple revenue streams - Rooms have become a big part of Chickpea's model, turning pubs into destinations for overnight stays. The group has also expanded into pizza through its Nole brand, creating opportunities beyond traditional pub dining.

🥧 Simple food, done exceptionally well - Chickpea champions proper pub classics, from handmade pies to fish and chips, using produce from local suppliers. The group even established a dedicated pie room in Wilton to supply its pubs and maintain consistency.

🌱 Growing without losing its identity - Rather than expanding nationwide, they have focused on the South West, building a collection of pubs rooted in their local communities while maintaining a consistent approach to food, design and hospitality.

The playbook → Take a traditional concept, elevate the experience through great food and service, and expand into complementary revenue streams.

The corner shop, the coffee shop and the grocer had a love child and it’s one of my favourite formats in hospitality right now.

The modern grocer: part deli, part coffee shop, part retail, all under one roof and sitting right at the heart of local communities.

What I especially like is how strong their brand identities are - they’ve got a genuine cool factor.

They also brilliantly showcase independent food and drink brands... I could happily spend 20 minutes just looking at what’s on the shelves.

Why the model works commercially:
👉 Coffee drives daily footfall and repeat visits
👉 Food and deli lift spend per visit
👉 Retail adds incremental revenue with a long shelf life
👉 They trade across almost every daypart, from morning coffee to evening top-up shop

A few of my favourites: Grocery Post, Superette, General Store, Duke St Store, GOODS and Cornershop 180.

The biggest opportunities right now in hospitality are the most unoriginal ones.

I was recently speaking to the founder of one of the UK's fastest-growing salad chains, and he said something that really stuck with me.

One of the reasons he loves hospitality so much is that you only need to do something marginally better than what's already out there to build a great business.

And I think he's got a point.

I see so many businesses, particularly in the dessert space, trying desperately to create the next viral product or completely new concept but how many of these actually make it long term?

Look at some of the most exciting hospitality brands right now - Flat Iron, Sandwich Sandwich, Crisp Pizza and WatchHouse Coffee.

They've hardly reinvented the wheel. They've simply taken something that already exists, improved the offering, built a brilliant brand around it and given people a reason to choose them over the competition.

Innovation doesn't always mean inventing something new, sometimes it means doing something old, better than anyone else.

What do you think? Are the biggest opportunities in hospitality hiding in plain sight?

That's a wrap for this edition of Hot Potato!

As always, I'd love to know what you thought. Whether it's a story I've missed, a brand I should feature or something you disagree with, just hit reply.

Your recommendations help shape what comes next, so keep them coming!

Until next time!

Bon appétit,

Max Shipman, Founder, Hot Potato

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