Hey Hot Potatoes,
Welcome to the latest edition of the Hot Potato Newsletter! I am feeling weirdly optimistic right now about hospitality - I don’t know if it’s the longer days or the fact that the World Cup is on the horizon but I am feeling bullish! Despite some of the negative headlines out there, there are some operators with the right models that are quietly growing and building. A quick shout out to Elevate Wellness, who just opened their second site in Selfridges, the smoothie was epic.
This week we're diving into the latest headlines across UK hospitality, spotlighting Urban Baristas, the franchise that cracked the speciality coffee paradox, exploring why community-building beyond run clubs is having a serious moment and I've got a spicy take on digitisation that I think will divide the room. Let's get into it.
In today’s email: The Coffee Franchise That Broke The Rules, Deliveroo Gets Into Bookings & A Digitisation Wake-Up Call
Read Time: Approx 3-4 mins
But first before we crack into it, excited to share our first newsletter sponsorship with our friends at Toast to announce the launch of their new handheld device Toast Go® 3
Shift Happens. Toast Go™ 3 Sorts It.
Are your current handhelds built to keep up with your busiest shifts? It’s time to meet the Toast Go™ 3, the handheld that works as hard as your staff.
Toast Go™ 3 is built to keep things moving:
Hospitality-grade durability: Toast Go™ 3's rugged design is specifically built to withstand the realities of daily service—drops up to 1.5 meters (5 feet), spills (IP65-rated), and heat common in restaurants and service settings— delivering dependable performance shift after shift.
Comfortable all-day use: The Toast Go™ 3 handheld is lightweight and compact, yet still has an expansive screen that’s 165 mm (6.52 in)
Extended battery life for continuous service: Designed for long operating hours, the device delivers more than 24 hours of battery life, for consistent, uninterrupted use.1
Operational consistency at scale: From high-volume dining rooms to distributed or multi-location operations, Toast Go™ 3 helps standardise service and support staff training— enabling teams to maintain quality across every guest interaction.2
Here’s what operators are starting to see with Toast Go™ 3:
"The new Toast Go™ 3 handhelds have been a massive step up for us operationally. My teams at Brindisa and Bar Kroketa have been incredibly impressed with the hardware. It’s held up through the odd drops, and the large screens make everything much more intuitive, which is vital at the speed we move.
The real impact has been on our terraces, though. These handhelds allow for incredibly fast ordering right at the table. Even during our busiest shifts, the connectivity has been solid, so orders hit the kitchen instantly and payments are sorted without the team ever having to leave the guest’s side. It’s significantly improved our flow and efficiency."
Ratnesh Bagdai
Co Owner and Co Founder of Brindisa Tapas and Bar Kroketa, London
*Beta customer that received free hardware as part of beta program
1Battery life varies with usage.
2Cellular connectivity requires an additional monthly fee of £10 per device. Terms and conditions apply.
🔥 Hot Off The Press 🔥
We take a look at some of the hottest headlines happening right now in UK Hospitality.
Sources: Propel Info, MCA Insight, Restaurant Online
🔥 PLATFORMS & THE OFFICE LUNCH REVIVAL: Deliveroo launches in-app reservations via a SevenRooms integration - the first major product move since DoorDash acquired both businesses, while its new Deliveroo for Work service targets corporate group orders, backed by a 60%+ surge in business orders since 2022
🔥 GREEN SHOOTS: Wagamama reports dine-in LFLs up 4% with 5–6 new UK sites planned this year, KERB grows revenue 19% to £38.9m and plans further expansion, and Papa John's UK sees Q1 sales accelerate to +11% as it returns to profit for the first time since 2021
🔥 INDEPENDENTS GROUPS ON THE RISE: Super 8 Restaurants — the group behind Brat, Kiln and Smoking Goat — reports turnover up 13% to £22.5m with further openings confirmed, and Chickpea Group announces plans for a 10th pub site
🔥 OPENINGS & EXPANSIONS: Nobu announces its first UK countryside retreat in Rutland, Pizza Pilgrims opens in Glasgow with Bristol and Wimbledon to follow, Shake Shack is in talks for Paddington and Padel Social Club (backed by Stormzy) plans three new London venues
Deliveroo have launched bookings via the app
Brand Spotlight of the Month - Urban Baristas
I didn't think it was possible to franchise speciality coffee but it looks like I've been proven wrong.
Not many people outside North London had heard of Urban Baristas in 2016 but Huw and Jono had a plan. Fed up with finance and tired of bad chain coffee, the two Aussies left their City careers, spotted what London's coffee scene was missing and decided to do something about it.
Today it's one of the most interesting franchise growth stories in UK hospitality.
The Numbers That Tell The Story:
1 kiosk to 16+ locations in under a decade
First site out of London opened in Liverpool
Target of 30 stores by end of 2026
Entry investment less than half the cost of comparable coffee franchises
Here's what they're doing differently:
☕ They solved the speciality coffee paradox - the coffee world has always assumed quality and scale are incompatible. Speciality was supposed to stay small and independent. Urban Baristas looked at that assumption and ignored it. Turns out customers want great coffee and convenience, they just needed someone to offer both.
🫘 Own the roastery, own the quality - most coffee franchises are entirely at the mercy of a supplier. Urban Baristas roast their own beans at their Bethnal Green roastery, sourced directly from farmers they visit. Brand consistency and quality control from the very first step of the supply chain.
🏖️ Independent vibe, scaled - Urban Baristas has something harder to copy: a genuine identity. Aussie coffee culture is laid-back, unpretentious and warm, no amount of money buys that kind of authenticity at scale.
Fair play to Huw and Jono - they bet on quality at scale when nobody thought it was possible.
Do you think franchising is the only viable route to grow at scale?
Growth Tip - The alternatives to run clubs
So you want to build a community but don’t want to start a run club, what do you do?
Well I’ve picked up 6 different examples below I’ve seen that are creative and different, here are my favourites:
🧶 Knitting Club & Sketch Club at Running Late Coffee - for those who like to slow down, create and connect at their own pace
🌿 Foraging at The Pig Hotel - their resident forager leads guided walks through forests and coastlines, from mushroom hunting to seaweed gathering.
🎮 Mario Kart Nights at Sevente in Hackney - competitive, chaotic and brilliant while winners take home £30.
🎤 SP Talks at The Salad Project - hosting guests like Nick Jones to bring
customers back for something beyond the bowl. Proof that people come for the food but stay for the conversation.
📚 Chickpea Chats at Chickpea Group - intimate author-led conversations that turn a meal into a moment worth remembering.
🐾 Paw Club at How Matcha - tailored for dog owners, with puppychinos, treats and local vet expertise, because your dog deserves a community too.
It's all about creating new ways of making people feel like they belong to something.
SP Talks by Salad Project
Spicy Take 🔥
I'll level with you. I've spoken to a few hospitality businesses recently and been genuinely shocked by the lack of digitisation - not mildly surprised, shocked.
If you're not actively looking at how to digitise your operation, you need to rethink how you're running your business full stop.
Right now, with consumer spending squeezed and costs still climbing, leaning on tech and automation isn't optional, it's survival. And the frustrating thing? The low-hanging fruit is right there - setting up click + collect, building a loyalty mechanic and getting a proper presence on socials. None of this is complicated or expensive but it compounds fast.
If you think relying on reputation alone is enough to cut it, in today’s climate, it isn’t enough anymore.
Platforms like storekit make click + collect and digital ordering seamless
That wraps this edition of Hot Potato. We've got a lot more coming - more brand spotlights, more trends worth watching and more spicy takes that'll hopefully get you thinking. If you found this useful, share it with someone in the industry who'd appreciate it.
Hit reply with any thoughts - I read everything and it genuinely shapes what comes next.
Bon appétit,
Max Shipman, Founder, Hot Potato
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