This fast-food chain is one of the leading healthy fast-food groups in the UK, with 650 employees, 60 outlets and turnover of 60M GBP. Since launching in 2004, it has developed a powerful retail brand, with a sophisticated monetization strategy providing multiple revenue streams from franchises, own label retail, branded product portfolio including cook books and as we discovered, is supported by a strong customer loyalty.
The global pandemic dramatically reduced turnover and the group was struggling to honor lease payments. The only viable option to save the brand, business and contributory IP portfolio, was for the Company to enter into a Company Voluntary Agreement, in order to renegotiate improved lease agreements with landlords. We were appointed to perform an IP valuation, which acknowledged the financial distress that the Company was facing. Our valuation was utilized by the Company to support negotiations with creditors to restructure its debt.
Our information discovery was again a vital part of the assignment. On paper, the Company’s registered trade marks were the only obvious IP assets. However, using our Metisology® approach, we identified evidence of the customer loyalty program generating repeat revenues – revenues with a substantially lower customer acquisition cost. We also mapped the IP to the most material revenue streams and discovered that the brand was being leveraged in different markets – branded food retail, casual dining, B2B white label for a supermarket giant, and through licensing. Demonstrating how this IP asset supported different revenue streams and operated in different markets, markets that were reacting differently to the covid-19 pandemic, provided another strong indicator of value.
Our IP valuation was relied on by the Company’s advisors and trusted by creditors to support restructuring negotiations. With lease agreements renegotiated, the Company was able to minimize the number of redundancies and pivot to online trading and take-out services. Despite the toughest trading year in its history, the Company was successfully restructured and continues to trade.
IP Assets Valued – Customer Data & Analytics, Brand & Reputation, Trade Marks.
