Styles, who left the Jamie Oliver Group last month after two and a half years as CEO, joins Honest Burgers at a significant moment with the group having recently launched its QSR smash burger concept, Honest Smash + Grab.
It comes after the group set out an ambition to ‘quadruple the size of the business’ by 2030 back in October last year.
“We’re really excited to welcome Kevin to the Honest family,” says Thomas Kelly, Honest Burgers chair and former CEO.
“His extensive experience and forward-thinking vision make him the perfect leader to guide us into our next phase and we look forward to seeing the impact he will have on our brand.”
Honest Burgers opened its first Smash + Grab site as a pop up at its London Liverpool Street restaurant late last month and Restaurant understands that the group intends to open a dedicated site under the brand in the near future, likely with a smaller footprint that will suit the quick service restaurant model.
Plans for the new QSR brand were fuelled by the success of Honest Burgers' lighter and lower priced smashed burger and comes amid a growing consumer appetite for smash burgers more generally.
“This brand has a unique opportunity to really disrupt a sector that is evolving quickly,” says Styles, whose CV also includes leadership roles at Vue International, American Golf, Best Buy Europe and Kingfisher.
“The quality of the offer, highly competitive value, a very strong and distinctive brand all combined with amazing restaurant teams provide an incredible platform for sustainable growth.”
Following what it has previously described as ‘exceptional results’ for the first half of 2024, Honest Burgers reports that it sustained its momentum in the second half with 10% growth in like for like sales, and EBITDA forecasted to grow by 50% year on year.
The business achieved three consecutive weekly sales records leading up to Christmas and a new record for covers volume.
Additionally, half of Honest Burgers' 39 locations reported new weekly sales records in December.
Honest Burgers was launched by Tom Barton and Phillip Eeles in 2011.
