Camile capitalises on 2020 growth – Announces 15 new locations and 300 Jobs

Camile Thai Kitchen, the UK & Ireland’s fastest growing Thai food chain offering healthy, gourmet at-home delivery dining experience, today announces ambitious 2021 plans, which include the opening of 15 new locations across the UK and Ireland and the creation of over 300 full and part time jobs.

• Announces aggressive expansion fuelled by pandemic-driven growth
• Plans 2021 tech pivot, with further investment in drone delivery and kitchen robotics
• Recently launched a “franchise as a service” venture to enable venues with commercial kitchens to operate despite lockdown restrictions

Of the 300 jobs that Camile Thai has announced, 80 are set to be based in the UK and will be across several roles including retail, operations, property management, business development and sales, marketing, and culinary as they look to grow the team at the same rate, they continue to open new locations. Seven out of the 15 new locations across the UK and Ireland, will be in the UK, new locations including the Epsom, Twickenham and Streatham suburbs of London and Surrey.

Camile is also planning to raise €10 million as part of its plans to progress with a technology-centric strategy. The chain was the first in Europe to deliver its menu by drone earlier this year and has plans to automate its kitchen operations with robotics in 2021.

“Despite an extremely difficult year for the hospitality sector, for Camile 2020 has seen rapid growth. Our suburban, delivery focussed model has proven to be pandemic proof in the last eleven months, not least in terms of revenue and sales. This has enabled us to not only push forward with our aggressive expansion plans, but also to prematurely move ahead with our main goal – our tech pivot” said Brody Sweeney, Founder, Camile Thai Kitchen. He explained: “Our raison d’etre is delivering guilt-free, delicious takeaways – but for us, we see tech playing such an incremental role in terms of food preparation, but also UX and of course, delivery.”

2021 will also see Camile pushing forward with its “franchise as a service” venture. Earlier this year, the chain began offering flexible franchise options for business owners with well-located, but underused commercial kitchens (such as restaurants, bars and hotels) in regional towns. The venture aims to enable such businesses to easily pivot to offering Camile’s delivery menu, helping them to continue to operate despite future anticipated lockdown restrictions. The first such premises recently opened in Sligo, Ireland and Camile aims to open five or six such outlets in the medium term.

About Camile

With more than 35 outlets, including six in London, Camile is committed to empowering their guests through healthy dining experiences. Founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Brody Sweeney, the company’s strategy is tech-centric with investments in drone delivery, kitchen robotics and cloud kitchens and is creating a new premium delivery dining sector based on health, sustainability and speed. Camile also strives to empower consumers to make sustainable delivery choices and was the first in Europe to introduce 100% compostable delivery packing. Investors include Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave, Andy McCue and Brian Caulfield.