Anthony Liddiard, CEO RMAL Hospitality. RMAL owns the Marco Pierre White brand outside of the UK and Ireland. It also owns the UAE Trader Vic's brand and Wagamama.
RMAL Hospitality has revealed it plans to open up a new Marco Pierre Steakhouse & Grill at the upcoming Conrad Dubai hotel.
In an exclusive interview with Caterer Middle East at the new Marco Pierre White Wheeler’s in DIFC, RMAL CEO Anthony Liddiard said there were plenty of plans in the pipeline to further develop the Marco Pierre White brands across the region.
“We’ve worked with him for six years and he is extremely happy with what we do with the brand to the extent where he’s travelling and people approach him to say ‘we really like your Frankie’s in Dubai’ – basically it is the relationship our team has with him and the trust and the loyalty that he has with us, and that we give him – that we are the custodians of his brand in this part of the world and where we develop in other parts of the world.”
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Liddiard told Caterer that one of the key considerations during expansion was which brands the group partnered with.
“We’re working with Conrad – Hilton’s flagship hotel in Dubai, it’s stunning. They approached us based on the success of Frankie’s and what we are doing here (Wheelers) to work with them on a Marco Pierre Grill restaurant.
“What we have to be extremely careful about is that we team with partners that we feel have that passion and commitment to be able to deliver that brand promise because we actually own those brands.”
Walter Hall, RMAL chief operating officer, added: “This is the shop window; before you develop any brand it is important to establish the shop window not just to create interest but to show how it should be and how you would like it to be developed.
“But as Anthony said, it is not just a franchise – ‘here is the brand and please go ahead’, we have to be careful and have those in depth discussions to ensure the brand reputation is maintained.
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