1 in 10 job adverts is work from home
The proportion of UK jobs advertised
as “entirely remote working roles”
has increased over the past month.
In January 11 per cent of jobs
advertised in the UK were for remote
working, up by a fifth on December’s
figures, according to analysis by
Hazlewoods, a business adviser and
accountant.
It said that employing remote
workers meant roles could be
advertised to a larger pool of talent as
recruitment is not confined by
proximity to offices. It also makes
jobs attractive to candidates with
young children or other care duties.
Hazlewoods looked at approxi-
mately 1.4 million job advertisements
over the past two years. Remote-only
roles, as a percentage of all advertised
roles, have been as high as 13 per cent
in November last year.
In the past home-based roles were
associated with low-paid customer
service and administration jobs, but
the research showed that 74 per cent
of remote roles paid more than the
average annual salary of £31,000.
“The pressure brought on by the
rise of the Omicron variant, and per-
haps other future variants, has forced
some businesses to reconsider their
working model,” Felicity Sang, a
director of Hazlewoods, said. “Em-Jessica Newman ployers have learnt to quickly adjust
to external pressures. For many
businesses there is currently no set
way of working, as they adapt to
accommodate the changes.”
The top sector for remote working
is technology with 31 per cent of
employees working entirely from
home. It is no surprise that those in
healthcare and transport work from
home the least.
There is still some concern among
employers that remote working
could create a two-tier office system,
with staff going into the office
benefiting from socialising and
networking opportunities whereas
those at home do not.
A Japanese noodle bar chain
described by one of its investors as
“twice as fast as Wagamama but half
the price” has unveiled plans to have
at least 100 outlets within five years.
Keith Bird, the European boss of
Marugame Udon, claims its plans are
“really well funded”, describing the
company’s approach as “ambitious
and bold but still humble”.
The chain, which has a menu based
around udon noodles and tempura,
opened its first site in the UK near
Liverpool Street in the City of
London last July and has since
opened three more at the O2, Canary
Wharf and St Christopher’s Place.
It will open another eight to ten
company-owned outlets this year at a
cost of £600,00 to £700,000 per site,
with 40 to 50 employees for each of
them, and by the end of the year Bird
hopes to start upping the ante by
taking on franchise partners.
Once he’s got the franchises up and
running, he reckons he should be able
to get the opening rate up to 30 to 40
sites a year as the brand expands out
of London to all the main cities, as
well as in transport hubs, retail parks
and shopping centres.
Within the next 12 months Bird, 55,
a former Gourmet Burger
Kitchen and Yum! Brands
executive, wants to take the
business to the Continent,
which will help him to
achieve the target he’s been
given of having 106
restaurants by 2026, although
“that’s a minimum”. He says
that with backing from the
Japanese parent company
and Capdesia, a private equity
firm that invests only in
restaurants, the European
business is “really well
funded”. Capdesia, which has a
minority stake in Marugame Udon,
has holdings in Wasabi, the sushi and
bento chain, and Gail’s, the bakery.
It may not be well known here yet,
but Marugame Udon is a house-
hold name throughout Japan and
Asia, where open-style kitchens
allow diners to observe the daily
ritual of the udon being freshly cut
and served steaming hot. As well
as tweaking a number of
dishes to cater to local
tastes, the menu in the
UK has the company’s
first vegan selection.
Customers have a tray
and help themselves to
their food. Main dishes
start at £3.45 and spend
per head averages out at about £12.
Bird said value was a core part of
the offer, although at those prices
margins were tight. Its Liverpool
Street site has “more than 5,000
transactions a week, which is way
higher than anyone had
expected or hoped”. He
added: “It’s about amazing
value, speed, tasty and
healthy food plus a sense
of theatre.”
Marugame Udon,
which also has strong
delivery and takeaway
sales, is owned byToridoll Holdings, created by the
entrepreneur Takaya Awata in 1985.
Today the Tokyo-listed group has
more than 1,700 restaurants under 20
brands in 36 countries generating
total sales of £1.1 billion.
Launching in a pandemic had its
challenges but Bird said that working
with “enlightened landlords” had
enabled the chain to secure a solid
pipeline of new sites, including
Waterloo station.
The Marugame Udon boss, who
became involved by virtue of his role
as an operating partner at Capdesia,
said the European growth plan would
help its Japanese parent meet its
target of becoming a top ten global
restaurant business with 5,500
outlets by March 2028.Noodle bar with a twist
sees the need for speed
Dominic Walsh
A little kitchen theatre is part of the
Marugame Udon experience; below,
the chain’s European boss Keith BirdMAX LACOME38 Monday February 21 2022 | the timesBusiness