Giggling Squid founder Andy Laurillard on provincial dining and the secrets of his chain’s success
It’s a laugh a minute for Giggling Squid. The Surrey-based restaurant chain is cropping up in more and more affluent market towns and sleepy suburbs across the south of England, looking to entice customers with its unique offering of accessible Thai cuisine in a relaxed environment.
Co-founders Andy Laurillard and his wife Pranee opened their first Thai restaurant in Brighton in 2002, enjoying modest success. But it was only in 2009, when the couple expanded to Hove and adopted the Giggling Squid name, that the concept truly caught on.
As casual dining chains across the country struggle to stay afloat, Giggling Squid remains blissfully unperturbed. The chain now operates 29 restaurants, with two more openings planned before the end of the year, and recently reported a 54 per cent increase in earnings compared to last year. The husband-and-wife team must be doing something right.
Swimming against the tide
The reason for the business’ success, Laurillard says, is that it has carved out a niche while remaining broad enough to be economically viable.
“There are lots of generic operators and there aren’t very many differentiated ones,” he tells City A.M. “The ones that are differentiated are doing unbelievably well because there’s a massive demand for eating. But you need a moat around you; you need something different.”
Laurillard points the finger at Italian restaurants in particular. While pizza and pasta remain popular, the sheer number of competitors makes it almost impossible to stand out, he says. And as labour rates and costs rise, the overcrowded market means undifferentiated chains cannot raise prices.
But these cost increases seem to have had little effect on Giggling Squid. An increase in business rates at the chain’s Esher site, for example, was largely offset by a fall in rates elsewhere.
In fact, Giggling Squid has capitalised on the failures of ailing chains such as Jamie’s Italian, pouncing on newly-abandoned sites. Laurillard estimates that 25 of the company’s 29 restaurants are “other people’s cast-offs”.
“We’ve taken the sites where other operators haven’t made it work and then put our offer in that is a bit different,” says Laurillard. “And it’s worked.”
The rebirth of provincial dining
But as casual dining chains across the country feel the heat, the restaurant boss thinks it is an “exciting phase” in restaurant development.
“It’s just like it was 10 years ago,” he says. “Three years ago if you were an independent operator with one or two sites, it was very difficult to get a good quality site. Now landlords are desperate for anyone.”
Laurillard thinks the loss of established operators has created opportunities for up-and-coming restaurateurs, as they can can find empty sites at good prices.
“You’re going to find in four or five years’ time a lot of really interesting new businesses will have been started around this time. We’re at the start of a rebirth of British provincial eating.”
Looking beyond London
While Giggling Squid becomes an increasingly familiar site in commuter towns, the chain’s expansion into London has been cautious.
With sites now open in Wimbledon and Kingston, Laurillard says he is edging his way into the capital, but remains hesitant about a move into the City.
“When something drops in my lap that looks nice we might have a go,” he says. “But I can never get my head around the rents or the capital entry costs.”
Moreover, the London restaurant business is completely different from the provincial market. In small towns, chains such as Giggling Squid depend on repeat business, meaning the focus is on consistent quality rather than extravagant marketing.
Laurillard believes quality alone will not guarantee success in the capital. With a huge number of competitors and more promiscuous customers, restaurants need to promote their business to be noticed.
“I see the London restaurant business as a marketing business that happens to sell food,” he says.
Lying in wait
Looking ahead, Andy seems quietly confident about the business. A £6.4m injection from investment company the Business Growth Fund in 2015 helped the company set up a head office and spurred on expansion. Now, the board is contemplating its next move.
“We’re going to start a transaction process and we will look at flotation, private equity and trade sale with equal agnosticism to the outcome,” he says.
With the business performing well, both founders have adopted a less taxing work schedule. While Laurillard focuses on finding new sites, his wife is in charge of interior design and checking the food quality. Laurillard is learning to surf and has bought a dog.
But the couple have no plans of winding down. They have a list of all the towns they want to move into and all the national chains operating in them. For now, Giggling Squid just lies in wait.