Do you want to get involved with a renowned restaurant franchise which sells over two million burgers every single year? Then you're in luck, as legendary fast-food brand, Burger King is looking to expand its franchise operation further, having secured a seven-figure funding deal with Clydesdale Bank.
Zing Leisure is based in Essex and the business is one of the largest Burger King franchises in the UK, operating an impressive 21 restaurants right across the Midlands, the South East and Cornwall. Zing Leisure's portfolio also includes the UK's flagship Burger King store in Leicester Square, London. The company employs over four hundred people and boasts an annual reported turnover of £19 million.
The Managing Director of Zing, Django Fung, said that the support offered by Clydesdale Bank is going to provide the business with a strongly flexible structure for its capital, with a package of banking facilities which are worth nearly £3 million in their own right. This financial support will allow Zing Leisure to further extend its operation as it looks to capitalise on Burger King's objective of increasing the number of franchised outlets it has in the UK.
Each of the 21 outlets owned by Zing Leisure has now been entirely refurbished, or is scheduled to be refurbished within the short term. This development includes the Stratford restaurant, located near the Olympic Park. This has already undergone a full re-fit and upgrade and reported a 70% increase in turnover this July compared to the previous year. The re-fit was financed as part of the Clydesdale Bank package.
Mr Fung started working for Burger King as a cleaner, part-time, over thirty years ago. Back then, he was paying for his college education and he progressed to become a franchisee for the brand in 1999, when he invested in a 48% stake in an existing restaurant portfolio via a management buy-in. The full acquisition was completed in 2007.
Fung explained that Burger King and the fast-food restaurant business was primarily about people and the growth of Zing - along with the support of the BK brand - was primarily successful because of the quality of its staff and their dedication at each restaurant.
He also said that his relationship with Clydesdale Bank was fundamental to achieving the new capital funding, allowing the bank to really get to understand and become familiar with the entrepreneurial nature of Zing Leisure. He thanked Clydesdale Bank, saying that they had shown incredible support, understanding and a demonstrable willingness to help right from the first meeting.
The Clydesdale's Finance Director for Corporate and Structured Products, Stuart Trussler, said that the success of the Zing business was down to the sheer hard work, opportunity-grasping and entrepreneurial spirit of Django and his team. He praised the business for being incredibly strong and added that Clydesdale Bank was looking forward to supporting Zing Leisure on its growth journey.
At Franchise Expo, we're also excited to read about Zing Leisure's success and the plan for Burger King to further expand. The franchise sector is a huge contributor to the UK economy, being worth over £13 billion every year and employing almost 600,000 people. We also welcome Clydesdale Bank's moves to help support an innovative and entrepreneurial business in its quest to successfully develop its business operations further.
