The Mexican fast-casual chain has opened five sites in the UK in the last 18 months, primarily in the capital with locations including Clapham, Canary Wharf and Chiswick. It has also opened its first restaurant outside of London, in Watford.
Niccol was speaking on investor call following Chipotle’s Q2 results, where the company reported total revenue increased 17.0% to $2.2bn with like-for-like sales up 10.1%.
The company acknowledged that price hikes helped boost profits but may have scared away some inflation-weary, lower income customers.
Niccol told analysts: “Europe has continued to move through the stage-gate process. We have made significant progress in improving the economics in Europe, driven by operational efficiencies, adding our digital systems and opening smaller formats that resemble the US restaurants.
“We have opened five new restaurants in the UK over the last 18 months, and results have been strong. We are gaining confidence that Europe could be another layer to our growth story in the future.”
Chipotle made its UK debut on London’s Charing Cross Road in 2010.
It has more than 3,000 restaurants globally across the US, Canada, the UK, France and Germany and claims to be the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants.