As investors, asset managers and large corporate occupiers pay closer attention to the impact of a food and beverage offer on their businesses, JLL is expanding its European Retail & Leisure Consulting team with the acquisition of specialist food and beverage advisers Coverpoint Foodservice Consultants. The transaction will enable JLL to provide comprehensive food and beverage consulting advice to a broad mix of clients across the region.
Founded by Jonathan Doughty, president of FCSI Worldwide, UK-based Coverpoint advises on all aspects of the food and beverage offer including commercial and operational performance analysis, benchmarking, standards monitoring and due diligence. Recent international projects include work for developers, corporate occupiers and investors looking to acquire or asset manage real estate operations with food and beverage components.
“Food and beverage is an offer that is more resilient to the impact of e-commerce and retail polarisation and it adds significant value to user experience in the physical environment,” said James Brown, head of European Retail & Leisure Research & Consulting.
“Coverpoint has an impressive and unparalleled track-record across the global foodservice industry, from retail real estate investors, to restaurateurs and corporate occupiers, and bringing Coverpoint into JLL will help us meet the growing client demand for this type of consulting service.”
“The foodservice sector is going through a phenomenal growth phase, restaurateurs are emerging and expanding and landlords are taking a closer look at how they can improve the food and beverage offer to drive value and experience,” added Jonathan Doughty FCSI, managing director, Coverpoint Foodservice Consultants. “From larger corporate occupiers looking at workplace strategy, to traditional retail real estate investors and smaller star-up restaurant groups, the F&B sector is in huge demand, but getting strategies right is still the key to success. Joining JLL will broaden our capacity, client base and will enable us to bring our collective global foodservice insights to the fore.”
Coverpoint joins JLL with immediate effect. The team reports to James Brown, head of EMEA Retail & Leisure Research & Consulting, and will relocate from Reading, UK, into JLL’s Heathrow office in 2015. At any one time, JLL has around 30 European retail advisers working on food and beverage projects.
Michael Jones
Pictured above is the Coverpoint director team; (left to right) Ken Higman, Jonathan Doughty, Adam Griffin and Ian Hanlon
