Toby Carvery undergoes brand revamp

In a presentation to analysts, retail operations director Jeremy Skingley said Toby will be targeted at the category of customer it has identified as “wordly wise”: an older group more concerned about health and more conservative in tastes. It will focus on the “family time” occasion, a fun and stress-free environment suitable for the whole family.

M&B said: “We will position Toby firmly in the worldly wise/family time occasion and update the brand image. We will take advantage of Toby’s highly volume efficient profit conversion by driving significant like-for-like meals growth. We will achieve this through a combination of organic growth (including above-the-line media), remodel and expansionary capex. We will not deviate from or jeopardise our single minded focus of ‘Home of the Roast’ in any aspect of the offer.”

The company said it would look to improve margins by a reduction in promotional meals and by operational efficiencies.

It would maximise the Sunday occasion, looking to increase covers and spend per head, but said there was also an opportunity to promote Toby on other days of the week.

Growing the breakfast trade would also targeted and next year will see the launch of the Toby Academy training centre, M&B said.

The company said Toby is a “scalable estate”. It has a turnover of £230m, serving 3,000 main meals per week. M&B said it has a high level of brand awareness and a net promoter score of 61% in the year-to-date.

The company also highlighted the “stable and capable teams” at Toby sites, with a “strong and growing pipeline of future managers”. Team member turnover is better than the M&B average “and improving”.