Startup Services
If you're at the idea stage, or anywhere between a concept and your first day of trading, our pre-startup services are designed specifically for you.
Starting Your Food Business and Getting It Right from Day One
1. Concept Development & Viability Assessment
You have an idea — but does it have a market? We work with you to define and refine your food concept, test its commercial logic, understand your target customer, and assess whether your idea is truly viable before you commit time and money. We help you answer the questions investors, landlords, and lenders will ask — before they do.
3. Food Safety & Legal Compliance Setup
Starting a food business in the UK comes with specific legal obligations — from food hygiene registration and allergen management to HACCP plans and labelling requirements. We guide you through every compliance step so you open legally, confidently, and with the right systems in place from the start.
We also prepare you thoroughly for your first Environmental Health Officer (EHO) inspection — because first impressions with your local authority matter. We review your premises, your documentation, your storage and handling practices, and your team's knowledge, so that when the inspector arrives, you are ready. We want to make sure your business achieves the 5-star Food Hygiene Rating, right from the outset.
2. Menu Development & NPD with World-Renowned Chefs
4. Coffee Shop Setup & Beverage Programme Development
For café and coffee shop concepts, the quality of your beverage programme is every bit as important as your food. We provide end-to-end setup support — from bar layout and equipment selection through to a full beverage menu that reflects your brand. We help you choose a house coffee bean unique to your concept, connecting you with small batch roasters who can craft a bespoke blend exclusively for you. Our barista training covers espresso technique, milk texturing, and latte art that creates genuine word-of-mouth and social media moments. We round out your offer with premium loose-leaf tea, ceremonial matcha, and a fresh smoothie menu engineered for both nutritional appeal and operational speed.
7. Pre-Opening Workshops & Founder Coaching
For individual founders who want structured, ongoing support through the pre-launch period, we offer a coaching programme that takes you from concept to launch-ready — with accountability, expert input, and a clear roadmap at every stage.
8. Accounting & Business Structure Guidance
Poor accounting decisions made at the outset can create complications that are costly, time-consuming, and in some cases very difficult to undo. The wrong business structure, a missed VAT threshold, or an ill-informed approach to remuneration can have seriously negative consequences.
We put you in touch with an experienced accountant who takes the time to answer your questions fully and clearly — without the agenda of selling you services you don't yet need. Too many founders leave their first accountant meeting with half-answered questions and a proposal they weren't expecting.
We help you get clear answers on the questions that matter most at this stage: which business structure is right for you — sole trader, limited company, or partnership, as well as the multitude of other issues your business may be facing
9. Market Research & Consumer Trends Analysis
Understanding the market you are entering is as important as the concept you are bringing to it. Consumer tastes, buying behaviours, and food trends move quickly — and the businesses that thrive are those that read those shifts early and respond with confidence.
Working alongside our highly specialised Trends Analyst, we bring you deep, current intelligence on the forces shaping the food & restaurant industries right now. This is practitioner-level insight from someone whose expertise spans a variety of menus, food to go, beverages, cakes and cookies, chocolate, and the broader landscape of how people eat, drink, and shop for food today.
For new food businesses, this service helps you validate your concept against real market conditions, identify the whitespace your offering can occupy, and make informed decisions about your menu, your format, and your positioning before you commit. For new FMCG food brands, it provides the consumer and category intelligence needed to develop products that are genuinely market-ready. For cafés and restaurants, it ensures your offer is tuned to what today's customer actually wants, not what was relevant two years ago.
5. Location Finding and Premises Suitability (Including Landlord Packs, Negotiation Support & AI-Powered Location Intelligence)
Choosing the right premises is one of the most consequential early decisions you'll make. We provide guidance on evaluating sites, planning your kitchen layout for operational efficiency, and assessing equipment needs against your menu and projected volumes.
We also prepare professional landlord packs on your behalf — giving you a compelling, well-presented case to bring to any landlord or agent, so you approach every conversation with confidence and credibility. Beyond that, we actively support you through lease negotiations with agents and landlords, helping you understand the terms, protect your position, and push for the best possible outcome — including, where the opportunity exists, securing long-term rent-free periods that give your business the breathing room it needs to establish itself.
6. Supplier & Procurement Setup
Finding the right suppliers at the right price is a skill most new operators learn the hard way. We help you identify and approach appropriate suppliers, understand purchasing terms, and build procurement structures that protect your margins and your quality standards.
Your menu is your most powerful commercial asset — and getting it right from the start sets the tone for everything that follows. We go beyond standard menu planning by connecting you with world-renowned chefs who specialise in authentic, high-impact cuisine development. Whether your concept is built around the delicate precision of Japanese or Sushi, the bold aromatics of Vietnamese or Lebanese, the rich traditions of Armenian or Greek cooking, the timeless appeal of Italian, or the vast and diverse landscape of Chinese cuisine — we match you with culinary expertise that brings genuine authenticity and creative distinction to your offering. This is not off-the-shelf menu design. It is NPD at the level your concept deserves.
