What-Franchise-Issue-20.1

interior – a move that stresses the importance of offering a full dining experience rather than just focusing on the food. “We focused on the operations and once we had confidence with what we were doing we turned the business around, grew the sales, and we could see we’d unlock that opportunity,” says Arif. “And so it was the right time to do the refurb and then talk about a relaunch, and talk about the fact that we’ve taken over the business. Our growth plans are quite ambitious because we believe in this.” A big part of the revamp was artistically nodding to all the cultures that were acknowledged through the P.F. Chang’s menu. “When you look at the décor of P.F. Chang’s you’ll see the merging of Asian colours, such as red and gold - elegant but bold tones,” says Arif. The brand is already incredibly popular in the Middle East and the US so has been able to continue capturing tourist footfall as they are already familiar with the brand. This means the business does not rely on walk-ins alone. “The majority of customers that come to us know the brand so we don’t pick up walk-ins, but even the walk-ins that we do pick up are the ones that know about the brand.” Now, Zaf Holdings’ focus will be on replicating P.F. Chang’s oversees success in the UK by introducing the brand to consumers who are currently unfamiliar. It’s hoping to achieve this by delivering a good all-round experience bolstered by its interior design revamp and anchored to its heritage. “The UK is a very important Despite, Brexit, the UK is a necessary launchpad to access other European markets. As a result, we’re likely to see more East Asian brands with ambitious growth plans roll out franchise opportunities to those in the UK. A photo studio in Life 4 Cuts P.F. Chang’s latest redesign L-R: Kishore Jukhoop (head of operations), Rafik Farouk (global head of brand development), Arif Jivraj (Zaf Holdings CEO) and Litu Maks (executive chef) 50 WHAT FRANCHISE Issue 20.1