The joint venture has been created to help restaurant and hospitality brands grow, whether relating to property, franchising, or financial modelling with Sauce Kelaker acting as the ‘development arm’ of food brands.
Kelaker was founded by Adam Blaker, former property director at Leon, and Simon Kelsey, who was head of franchise development at the healthy fast-food company between 2014 and 2021.
Sauce Communications was founded by Jo Barnes and Nicky Hancock in 2000 and helped build the career of Gordon Ramsay as one of its early clients. In 2020 it launched Feed, a social media and content division.
“Sauce Kelaker feels like a natural progression for Sauce,” says Hancok.
“The hospitality industry can be a very tough learning ground and sadly we’ve seen many promising brands fail to live up to potential. Now with the backing of the Kelaker team, we want to join our clients on the exciting journey of growth and help them navigate through the current headwinds that the hospitality industry is facing”.
Blaker adds: “We are excited about collaborating with the Sauce team as PR, digital and social are often areas pivotal to success. By bringing together Sauce’s skills and phenomenal sector knowledge with our expertise and experience, we have a real recipe for success. In Sauce Kelaker we have a complete development arm for food brands”.