ENTE 5003 Consultancy Project Report: DMU Food Village Business Plan

This report presents a consultancy project focused on the DMU Food Village, a key dining facility at De Montfort University. It begins with an introduction outlining the need for business strategy development to assess the food village's sustainability. The report identifies problems such as volatile sales and competition, while also highlighting opportunities for growth. The purpose of the proposal is to evaluate current business strategies and suggest improvements to increase sales and the customer base. Background information includes an analysis of the food village's current operations and potential improvements like offering a wider range of food options. The report includes a PESTLE analysis of the UK market and a SWOT analysis of the Food Village. It also provides financial analysis, recommendations, and a conclusion, all aimed at improving the food village's business performance. The report suggests technological innovations and equipment upgrades to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. The scope of the proposal includes reviewing current business operations, conducting market research, and recommending strategies for sales and customer base expansion.

Running head: CONSULTANCY PROJECT MAIN
Consultancy Project Main
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Problems and Opportunity...........................................................................................................4
Purpose of Proposal.....................................................................................................................5
Background of Problem...............................................................................................................6
Opportunities and Improvement Plan..........................................................................................6
PESTLE Analysis – United Kingdom, for DMU Food Village..................................................8
Political factors........................................................................................................................9
Economic factors.....................................................................................................................9
Social factors.........................................................................................................................11
Technological factors.............................................................................................................11
Legal factors..........................................................................................................................12
Environmental factors............................................................................................................12
SWOT analysis for Food Village..............................................................................................13
Strengths................................................................................................................................13
Weaknesses............................................................................................................................13
Opportunities.........................................................................................................................13
Threats...................................................................................................................................14
Summary of problems and opportunities...................................................................................14

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Sources of information..............................................................................................................16
Scope of proposal......................................................................................................................16
Organization of the proposal.....................................................................................................17
Financial Analysis.....................................................................................................................18
Recommendations......................................................................................................................21
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................23
References......................................................................................................................................25
Appendix........................................................................................................................................30

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Introduction
There are various business strategies and implementations that needs to be developed for
the purpose of business planning and development in order to assess the sustainability of the
food village. The DMU Food Village operates a number of food outlet across the campus as well
as it provides hospitality services for university conferences and events. The food village is the
primary and a key dinning facility that is available to the University and is centered or located at
Centre of Campus that is just adjacent to the Vijay Patel Building (Dmu.ac.uk 2019). The Food
village has a wide variety of food menu that is available to the students and customers who are
willing to avail or take benefit of the various kinds of available food that is there on a daily basis.
The food menu basis is changed on a daily where the option for Lunch and as well as Dinner is
different for different days. The operational time for the Food Village is from 8am-7 pm (Mon-
Wed) and 8am- 10 pm (Thursday -Fri) where the restaurant or food company operates five days
a week, where the operations of the restaurant services are made available. It is well equally
important to take into consideration various business process, policies and actions that might be
useful for the food village in order to increase or stabilize the overall business operations. The
key problem that the restaurant can face is in line associated with the changing revenue
structures and various other food operators that is operating in the De Montfort University. The
key proposal that we would be taking into consideration is reviewing the current business
operations or the business structure of the food village and undertake various business strategies
and initiatives for the purpose of increasing the overall sales and increasing overall customer
experience or goodwill for the company. The financial analysis for the food village has been
done for a sum of three years whereby relevant assumptions and explanations in the field of

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revenue break-down and costs associated with the same are taken into consideration for the
analysis.
Discussion
Problems and Opportunity
The key problem that the Food business faces is the volatile sales level and increasing
operational costs for the company. The other key problem that the food business is competition
from other food retail chains operating in the food retail business. It is essential for every food
operating companies and retail chain to undertake various business and industry related factors
that can affect the financial and business performance of the company for the stated time-period.
The changes in the stated food business should be well analyzed and taken into consideration for
the purpose of analysis so that the Food village can undertake various strategies and business
functions for the purpose of improvising the same (Kang, Jun and Arendt 2015). On the other
hand, opportunities for the firm can be well in the field of increased sales activity and business
operations that would be helping the company in stabilizing and increasing the customer base or
the total sales base for the company (Foodserviceequipmentjournal.com 2019). Wide range of
available food menus and available possibilities of growth in the Food Village business can be
well evaluated with the growing demand for various food options. Assessing the needs and
demands of the business and the consumers has been the most challenging part for the food
operating company. The company should conduct various market research in order to identify
the needs and demands of the students and consumers so that it can accordingly take preemptive
actions and strategies for the purpose of overall planning and development of the food village.

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Purpose of Proposal
The purpose of the proposal is to evaluate the current business strategy of the Food
Village Restaurant Operating style and what are the possible ways with which the sales and
business activity of the company can be further increased (Osaili et al., 2013). There are various
business strategies and implementations that can be done in order to improve the business
profitability and sustainability and the same would be viewed from the long term perspective so
that the stakeholders of the food village can enjoy the associated benefits. The proposal would be
aiming at finding out ways by which food village can increase the projected sales and the
customer base (Feenstra 2014). The operational and business expansion plan for the Food
Village was drawn up with the help of various operational and strategic plan that the company
would be coming up for the purpose of expanding the overall capacity of the restaurant and for
increasing the overall revenue base of the company. The increase in sales and customer base can
be well done with the introduction of new kind of food products and services especially as a new
services which would be attractive to the target consumers (Foodservice Equipment Journal
2019). Researching the demand of the target consumers and executing them in the form of
business demand would be the key idea that the company would be approaching for the purpose
of expansion. The business of the food village has been solely dependent on the demand from the
University Students and Teachers it becomes very important for the Food Village to analyse the
transactions period when sales for the company would be high and when the same would be low.
It is important to identify the period when the company would be having a high sales or high
demand and low sales or lower demand so that it can accordingly take appropriate actions for the
purpose of business development.

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Background of Problem
It is equally important that the market analysis of the demand of food be assessed with
the help of current market research where likes and preferences about a particular product can be
well analysed. The current food operations section that the Food Village is having allows them to
serve both Lunch and Dinner in the restaurants (Levison 2013). However, it is well important
that the food restaurant open up various segments in which in addition to the two meal offered
they would be offering an all the way beverages and munchies section where some combinations
of fast foods, beverages and munchies would be well served to the students and consumers. It is
well important to add a wide variety of food range options that would be made available in the
Food Village Food Counter. It will not be only an addition of the food and variety of services
that the company would be focusing for introduction it would be strategizing and better
management of the resources and services that will be catered by Food Village. Services play an
important role especially when considering it from the food industry or hospitality industry the
way of cooking and way of serving act as an integral part in the restaurant line of business
(Turnwald et al. 2017).
Opportunities and Improvement Plan
Technological innovations and modern equipment’s has allowed the food industry to
grow in a much prosperous way and the same would be helping the Food Village Hotel in
attracting a large base of consumers (Foodservice Equipment Journal 2018). Researching the
demand of the target consumers and executing them in the form of business demand would be
the key idea that the company would be approaching for the purpose of expansion and planning
out the various course of action plan for the business. Food Equipment in various sections of the
restaurants would be introduced and the same would be as follows:

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Beverages:
 Nuova Simonelli the ultimate Coffee Machine that has been officially launched by the
Aurelia Wave, which itself is the most advanced espresso machine it has ever designed.
 Black and White4 Super Automatic Coffee Machines which is introduced by the UCC
that has almost raised the bar for high street coffee and how people perceive about the
coffee amore than a beverage (Foodservice Equipment Journal 2015).
 Zerica Water Dispensary Machine will be installed which will be brought down with the
help of Cascade Water Systems in the premises of Food Village.
Cooking:
 Alto Shaam will be helping the Food Village in providing a multiple range of multi cook-
ovens which is an improved version of multi cook ovens providing a range of food
cooking options to the chefs.
 EVO Fryers the most energy efficient cooking equipment range that would be introduced
for providing a range of healthy foods in replacement to normal deep fried oily foods as a
step for promoting the new tag of company “Eat Healthy Stay Healthy” (Scully et al.
2017).
 Cinders Barbeque would be introduced for serving various barbeque foods which will b e
a live counter that would be set up in the Food Village Foodservice (Equipment Journal
2019).
 In order to sustain with the high demands and speedy process of food services during
peak seasons and peak times we would be able to better serve our customers with a range
of Lainox High Speed Ovens which can be well used and implemented for speedy and
effective food services.

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Counter Services
In the counter services range there would be addition of equipment and tools that not only
improvises the way of serving but also keeps the taste of the food intact, this can be well done by
the Food Village with the help of available range of equipment and tools.
 Discreet Inductions which has been launched by Grande Cuisines heats induction-
friendly holding equipment during the time of the service, while discreetly hidden
from view beneath the work surface is one of the key attraction of the product that
would be introduced (Foodservice Equipment Journal 2015).
 Servers Drop in Units that is Suited and well adjusted for the Gastro norm
configuration process will be installed in the new units that are currently available in
refrigerated and heated configurations, which uses a plug-in 13amp socket.
 Compact Merchandisers would be introduced in the fast food and munchies sections
where sandwich and other quick services items can be easily placed and stored
effectively. The key feature of this product is that it is well refrigerated with
recirculating cold air that cascades down the front and over the shelves for
maintaining an even temperature that would be around 5 degree Celsius.
PESTLE Analysis – United Kingdom, for DMU Food Village
PESTLE analytical framework is applied for analysing the external macro-environmental
influential factors for an organization, which cannot be controlled by the organization. PESTLE
stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors (Nurmi
and Niemelä 2018). The PESTLE analysis for the DMU Food Village is explained below.

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Political factors
Political factors are those which are determined and controlled by the government of an
economy. These factors include political stability, government policies regarding the welfare of
the economy, business condition, international trade relations, taxation etc. These factors affect
the business performance of an organization and also determine the level of investment in the
economy which would boost the business performances (Zinovieva et al. 2016). The political
power of the UK is highly significant in the world. The political system of the UK is quite stable,
although the issue of Brexit has brought some uncertainties in the political scenario since 2016.
David Cameron stepped down after the Brexit referendum in June 2016. His successor, Theresa
May also failed to negotiate the deals for Brexit by invoking the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
and the country gained a new Prime Minister within a very short span of time (Jensen and Snaith
2016). Apart from this uncertainty, UK has good international relations with the rest of the
world, thus, creating a favourable political as well as economic support for business growth. The
taxation policy is favourable for the businesses, such as, there is 18% corporate tax on profits.
The Food Village will have a stable and non-interfering government and the fall in the corporate
tax is helpful for setting up the business.
Economic factors
These factors include all types of economic elements that influence domestic businesses
and international trade. Starting from the volume of production, these factors include various
micro and macro economic variables, such as, the level of money supply, inflation rate,
unemployment rate, consumption level, interest rate, terms of trade, exchange rate, national
income, investment level etc. (Castaño, Méndez and Galindo 2015). UK is a developed economy
and in terms of nominal GDP, it is the 5th largest economy in the world (Bell and Morse 2018).

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The GDP of the economy till 2nd quarter of 2019 was £513,029 million, inflation rate was 2.1%
in July 2019 and rate of unemployment was 3.7% till April 2019 (Ons.gov.uk 2019). The service
sector is major industry in the UK with 80.2% contribution in the GDP, followed by industrial
sector with 19.2% and agriculture with only 0.6% (Bell and Morse 2018). Due to higher terms of
trade and strong international relations with majority of the countries, along with the
Commonwealth Countries, the level of FDI is very high in the UK. Among the services, the
financial services dominate the economy. Although the country has a growing economy, the
Brexit issue has brought about high level uncertainty, as it would lose the access of the single
market of the EU and there will be changes in the terms of trade and international relations once
it formally leaves the EU. Thus, almost all the sectors of the economy are facing the challenges
that the uncertainties are bringing. The value of pound fell after Brexit referendum and that
raised the consumer prices within the economy. However, some domestic sectors, such as, the
restaurant industry is experiencing a good growth due to increased investments and
globalization, which has been contributing significantly in its global expansion (Zinovieva et al.
2016). In case of Food Village, the restaurant has the scope of business growth due to higher per
capita income, growth of service sector, moderate inflation and job opportunities in the economy.
Furthermore, this restaurant provides food at lower prices to the students in spite of rising
inflation in the economy, which has increased its acceptability and market share. As found from
the DMU website, the restaurant kept its prices unchanged even during rising inflation in the
economy and thereby earned customer satisfaction and loyalty (Dmu.ac.uk 2019).
Social factors
These factors represent the socio-cultural factors of a nation, such as, traditions, beliefs,
tastes and preferences, health awareness, population volume, integration of cultures due to

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migration etc. (Castaño, Méndez and Galindo 2015). These aspects are highly valuable for
business growth of a nation as these factors influence or determine the direction of the business.
UK has high level of cultural integration as there is a large number of migrated population
residing in the country since centuries. Thus, the tastes and preferences are extremely varied and
that has resulted in a large number of restaurants serving food from different countries and
regions. Moreover, the birth rate in the UK is higher than the death rate, the population is
expected to reach 74 million by 2039 (von Schantz, Ong and Knutson 2019). The country also
has very highly educated population and thus, their awareness about health is quite strong. Thus,
for a restaurant like Food Village that serves healthy food at a reasonable price, the scope of
growth is high. They need to understand the demographics of the region they are serving, as in
this case, the university students with multicultural background and they should cater to their
needs according to their tastes and preferences.
Technological factors
Being an economically developed country, the UK is capable of investing large amount
of funds in the research and development as well as in the technological sphere. London is the
hub of financial and technological institutions and various new technologies are developed and
implemented in the businesses, which improves the business performances (Gutierrez, Boukrami
and Lumsden 2015). The restaurant industry is also emphasizing on the technological innovation
for expansion of services and introducing new items to sustain in a competitive market.
However, being a small restaurant, Food Village is lagging behind the other large restaurants or
the chain restaurants in terms of technological upgradation or innovations, which require large
amount of funds. Thus, further investment is required in Food Village.