Inamo seeks equity partner to support expansion
The company has opened three London sites in Soho, Camden and Covent Garden since 2008 and is hoping to secure backing to launch a further two restaurants in the capital over the next 12-18 months.
Inamo CEO Lee Skinner told BigHospitality the group is targeting high footfall areas such as Marylebone and the South Bank.
The restaurant business is currently privately owned, and has appointed BTG Advisory to oversee the process.
“We’ll get a nucleus of five or six restaurants in London then can start looking at provincial cities and moving out,” says Skinner.
Like for like sales at Inamo, which serves a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean cuisine, rose 15% over the year to 30 June 2019.
Skinner says the group has seen an increase in average spend after converting under-utilised space in its Soho and Covent Garden sites to games rooms.
Inamo has also been fine-tuning its technology, which sees interactive menus, games and live ‘chef cams’ projected on tables.
It is looking to remove the plastic controllers currently used to interact with the projections and is testing touch tables, which it hopes to launch in the next few months.
“We’ve been working on the technology for the last two years getting it to a position where it’s ready to be rolled out,” says Skinner.
“Now we’re looking for a partner to come in to the business, open a couple more sites and see where the it goes. Inamo is ready to start growing up a bit.”
