All Bar One opening heralds pubco's 'cautious' foreign expansion
Six Continents Retail is to open its first overseas All Bar One in Cologne, Germany, at the end of the month.
After buying a German-based chain, Alex, two years ago, the company is now ready to transport its successful All Bar One format into Europe.
Bob Cartwright, director of communications at Six Continents Retail, said: "We had questions about taking All Bar One to the continent so we looked around and acquired the German chain Alex, which taught us about the market."
He said the company would be buying individual outlets to expand rather than buying an existing chain to convert into the format.
Although a few changes will be made to the outlets such as "tweaking" the menu, Mr Cartwright said the look and feel will be similar to the British outlets.
Taking an established chain overseas does need careful thought, according to Nigel McNally, commercial director at Bedford-brewer Charles Wells, which operates nearly 70 pubs throughout Europe.
He warned that a flexible approach was essential for success and said it was vital to adapt to local markets.
"You tend to feel it is your brand so you dictate how it should be. But you need to test one or two concepts first to see what works. It's the slight adjustments that then make it work," said Mr McNally.
Mr Cartwright agreed that All Bar One's foreign expansion would be cautious, but added that Six Continents is confident of success.
Although Mr Cartwright denied the move overseas was because of a problem finding sites in the UK, Mr McNally said: "It's not as competitive in Europe as it is in the UK.
"While we are saturated with bars in the UK, in Europe we are nowhere near that and you can still get a good deal on a site and make a good return."