James Cox
Camile Thai has announced it will create 220 new Irish jobs as it opens new restaurants in Ireland and the UK.
The takeaway chain is to open 15 new locations across Ireland and the UK.
The roles will be across retail, business development, marketing, sales, and cookery.
New Irish locations include The Point Village in Dublin, the new Frascati Centre in Blackrock, and several other locations in Waterford, Mayo, Dublin, and Cork.
Camile is also planning to raise €10 million as part of its plans to progress with a technology-centric strategy. The chain was the first in Europe to deliver its menu by drone earlier this year and has plans to automate its kitchen operations with robotics in 2021.
“Despite an extremely difficult year for the hospitality sector, for Camile 2020 has seen rapid growth. Our suburban, delivery focussed model has proven to be pandemic proof in the last eleven months, not least in terms of revenue and sales. This has enabled us to not only push forward with our aggressive expansion plans, but also to prematurely move ahead with our main goal - our tech pivot” said Brody Sweeney, founder of Camile Thai Kitchen.
He explained: “Our raison d’etre is delivering guilt-free, delicious takeaways — but for us, we see tech playing such an incremental role in terms of food preparation, but also UX and of course, delivery.”
Franchise options
2021 will also see Camile pushing forward with its “franchise as a service” venture.
Earlier this year, the chain began offering flexible franchise options for business owners with well-located, but underused commercial kitchens (such as restaurants, bars and hotels) in regional towns.
The venture aims to enable such businesses to easily pivot to offering Camile’s delivery menu, helping them to continue to operate despite future anticipated lockdown restrictions.
The first such premises recently opened in Sligo and Camile aims to open five or six such outlets in the medium term.
