Itsu founder Julian Metcalfe says that he expects to soon increase staff wages to £16 per hour but will continue to rely on technology such as kiosks and robots in the kitchens to keep costs a bay.
“The screens are there because we were so scared of the Government continuously raising [employment] taxes,” he said in an interview with thisismoney.co.uk.
“Very soon we’ll be paying staff £16 an hour, I should think. That’s a good thing for our staff. But we want our food to be affordable – so where you can have a machine to take orders, you have to do it.”
Metcalfe told the publication that the company has three Japanese robots in every Itsu kitchen for its preparation, with one robot doing the job of three people.
“They [robots] cost £100,000, but they don’t go on holiday and they don’t work from home,” he added.
Pret and Itsu – both founded by Metcalfe – collectively employ more than 10,000 people in the UK and both brands will be impacted heavily by the rise in National Insurance Contributions from 13.8% to 15% as outlined in the most recent Budget.
Metcalfe also revealed his ambitions plans for Itsu, predicting the brand would reach 500 sites within the next ten year and that one day it might have a thousand restaurants if he can find the right partner to take the brand to Japan and China.
