Summary
Having won a global award from KFC as its best franchise partner , Gloucestershire businessman Gerard Nicholas is celebrating a major milestone with a special commendation for half a century of working with the global restaurant giant.
Details
Gerard, who runs NNA Ltd with his wife Martina from their HQ on Goodridge Avenue , has built up a prime portfolio of KFC franchise restaurants across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. A dozen sites now dot the map – plus TWO new restaurants in the pipeline for the Cotswold town of Stroud and the Forest of Dean ‘s Coleford .
These are set to join restaurants in Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Ross-on-Wye, Cirencester, Hereford and Evesham. Collectively, NNA now provides roles for 340 staff across its network, while the Coleford and Stroud restaurants are projected to create 65 extra jobs.
The new openings here come within KFC’s £1.5bn growth plans in the UK and Ireland, which aim over the next five years to create more than 7,000 extra jobs across KFC’s business and its supply chain. Speaking at the official awards ceremony, Rob Swain, KFC UK and Ireland General Manager , said NNA “perfectly represent the growth, ambition and energy that our franchisees bring to KFC”.
Praising Gerard and Martina, who live in the Forest of Dean, as “entrepreneurs who bring the brand to life,” he said KFC was “incredibly proud of the impact they have made and of our long-term partnership with them.” NNA’s average weekly sales topped KFC’s rankings across the UK and Ireland – an achievement he said was particularly impressive given that the business operates outside the country’s major cities.
Addressing Gerard, he added: “What makes this achievement even more impressive is that it has not been delivered in one of the UK’s major cities. You are top of the scorecards because you have invested in the system over many years, built capability and brought people along with you.” Over the past few years, NNA’s Hereford restaurant has become a trailblazer for maximised achievement, Mr Swain said.
Since NNA began operating the restaurant, the business has achieved significant growth. The transformation has been attributed to the outstanding leadership of the restaurant’s general manager, Kanthasamy Thaventhiran, as well as the dedication, teamwork and commitment of the entire restaurant team.
Praising Gerard and Martina for the “humility that comes from them both and runs all the way though the organisation”, he added: “What I most love is your passion for growth.” The idea for NNA Ltd began when Gerard took his first job after graduating as a mechanical engineer, back in the 1970s.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
