Having won a global award from KFC as its best franchise partner, Gloucestershire businessman Gerard Nicholas is celebrating a major milestone with a special commendation for half a century of working with the restaurant giant.
Gerard, who runs NNA Ltd with his wife Martina from their HQ on Gloucester’s Goodridge Avenue, has built up a prime portfolio of KFC franchise restaurants across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
A dozen sites now dot the map – with two more new restaurants in the pipeline, for Merrywalks, adjacent to McDonald’s in Stroud, and the Forest of Dean’s Coleford. Both newcomers will join restaurants in Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Ross-on-Wye, Cirencester, Hereford and Evesham and, collectively, NNA now provides roles for 340 staff across its network, while the Coleford and Stroud restaurants are projected to create 65 extra jobs.
The new openings here come within KFC’s £1.5bn growth plans in the UK and Ireland, which aim over the next five years to create more than 7,000 extra jobs across KFC’s business and its supply chain.
Speaking at the official awards ceremony, Rob Swain, KFC UK and Ireland General Manager, said NNA “perfectly represent the growth, ambition and energy that our franchisees bring to KFC”.
Praising Gerard and Martina, who live in the Forest of Dean, as “entrepreneurs who bring the brand to life,” he said KFC was “incredibly proud of the impact they have made and of our long-term partnership with them.”
NNA’s average weekly sales topped KFC’s rankings across the UK and Ireland — an achievement he said was particularly impressive given that the business operates outside the country’s major cities.
Addressing Gerard, he added: “What makes this achievement even more impressive is that it has not been delivered in one of the UK’s major cities. You are top of the scorecards because you have invested in the system over many years, built capability and brought people along with you.”
Over the past few years, NNA’s Hereford restaurant has become a trailblazer for maximised achievement, Mr Swain said.
Since NNA began operating the restaurant, the business has achieved significant growth. The transformation has been attributed to the outstanding leadership of the restaurant’s general manager, Kanthasamy Thaventhiran, as well as the dedication, teamwork and commitment of the entire restaurant team.
Praising Gerard and Martina for the “humility that comes from them both and runs all the way though the organisation”, he added: “What I most love is your passion for growth.”
The idea for NNA Ltd began when Gerard took his first job after graduating as a mechanical engineer, back in the 1970s.
While many of his fellow students departed for white-collar professions, Gerard said he felt a yearning to channel his ambitions and focus on the nuts and bolts of the quick-service sector.
He added: “I began my career working in a KFC in London in 1975 in Camberwell Green. It was where I met my wife, Martina and, in 1982, we came to Cheltenham to open our own first KFC, on the High Street. After that success, we went on, in 1990, to open our second restaurant on Westgate Street, in Gloucester.
“Looking back, maybe the best measure of the work has been the long-term relationships both with staff who have started at the bottom and worked their way up and with the customers – we now meet the grandchildren of the young people who we first served back then!”
Gerard said that a steady approach to business was baked in to NNA’s approach: “By building carefully, the rest have all followed from those early days, always investing in the business and the people as we went along.”
As a franchisee, his first rule is that he can be contacted by any employee at any time of day, no matter where he is – at work, at home or on holiday.
This approach, he said, ensured even the smallest of issues, often well ahead of them becoming visible, can be intercepted. Within the company, he has also become renowned for his hands-on approach, his fastidious eye for cleanliness meaning he is often seen making forays into car parks to ensure every site is as spotless outside as it is within.
But while KFC has recognised NNA Ltd for its commitment to growth, Gerard said that the pathway to success has not been about a raw pursuit of profit: “It is not all about money – making sure customers have great food and a great experience actually costs nothing. You do, of course, have to keep a clear focus on the small details that ensure you control cost, but being friendly – and making people feel welcome – costs nothing.”
Ultimately, he said NNA’s success was built upon listening to staff and ensuring that no experience, good or bad, was wasted.
“We always listen to what our people are saying and if we take a good idea, we make sure to share the credit.”
Perhaps that is why NNA’s staff retention figures excel at the top of KFC’s metrics, reflecting a workplace culture that values, supports and retains people.
Gerard agreed: “We are a family company at heart – and we treat our people like family. We hope that’s why people come to us and stay with us – whichever side of the counter they choose.”
