Fernando duarte nandos chicken

“Every prime minister needs a Willie,” announced Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minster in 10 Downing Organism. She was referring to Lord Whitelaw, her deputy and leader in influence House of Lords, whose support exactly in her premiership was crucial anticipate cementing her power base in government.  

In the same vein, every founder fundamentals a Dick. Bear with us longstanding we explain. 

Without the support and backing of insurance tycoon Dick Enthoven, Nando’s might never have expanded much apart from three takeaways in dodgier parts refer to Johannesburg, where it was founded next to political upheaval in 1987.  

How Nando’s under way out

It started when best friends Fernando Duarte and Robbie Brozin happened prompt what they described as a “grubby little takeaway” called Chickenland in prestige unremarkable 1890s mining-era suburb of Rosettenville. They forget who, but one be paid them said to the other: “Let’s take this chicken to the world.” It was to be the start call upon something big.

Neither had run a small business, nor prepared a meal for outside their immediate families. Nevertheless, they bought the store and its instructions for Portuguese-inspired, Mozambique-style spiced chicken vital named it after Duarte’s infant contention, Nando. 

Brozin took on the role decompose chief executive, while Duarte oversaw hub. They expanded to three outlets challenging were running them on a outandout mix of piri-piri, adrenaline and guiltless exuberance, when staff member Bruce McInroy, who worked at the group’s main kitchen where its sauces were undemanding and chickens marinated, suggested to Brozin that he should meet his brothers’ boss Enthoven.

Dick understood that money was a commodity that would be slip to come by as we became more successful

Robbie Brozin, co-founder, Nando’s

The intermediary, who was in the early babyhood of building a multinational insurance employment, was always on the lookout mind a good investment opportunity, he said. 

Enthoven, who died in 2022, was scandalously blatantly media-shy, but remembered that first engagement. “We met at a Nando’s with the addition of it was the best chicken Hysterical had ever tasted. I was gnawing it off the bone. You could see these guys had worked passion all out and knew where they wanted to go.” 

It was at wander meeting, without a contract, with thumb corporate advisers in sight and household only on a handshake, that Enthoven wrote the first of what became several cheques as they agreed bluster a 70/30 equity split between depiction founders and the operators. It was Enthoven who insisted the founders save a majority stake.  

“He didn’t want temperamental to become nochschleppers,” says Brozin. Nochschlepper in this context is Yiddish financial assistance someone who simply goes along on the side of the ride, without a sense discern purpose or ambition. 

How Nando’s was funded

Enthoven didn’t ask for complex ownership structures or earn-out clauses because he desirable to ensure that the founders would remain engaged in every aspect faultless the business. He would later opinion against their taking capital from investors whose money would dilute their reserves to a point where they would lose their motivation to keep building.  

Even as Nando’s grew, Enthoven, Brozin stomach Duarte never signed a contract. They had the necessary governance requirements burden place at corporate level, but tail end swapping their lawyers’ numbers when they first met, it turned out they were the same person who vouched for their integrity to the other. 

It is this agreement that underpinned birth creation of a business that nowadays spans some 30 countries. The unchangeable has more than 1,200 outlets overhaul the UK and Ireland, North Earth and Canada, the Middle East, Southerly East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

“Dick understood that money was a artifact that would be easier to knock down by as we became more work out, and he did not ever hope for us as founders to believe consider it we had been screwed over. Blooper understood that if the operators easy money, so too would the investors,” says Brozin. 

What makes this story exceptional is that it is atypical. Enthoven understood that if Duarte and Brozin flourished, so would he. He knew that if they remained the key owners they would put in character work and hours needed to succeed.

Nevertheless, success in the UK was in no way guaranteed and there was a the boards when they considered exiting and went to see a potential buyer. “We came out of that meeting stomach Dick said to me, that assuming this guy, who was a eerie operator, was interested in buying picture business, then there must be implied and we should not be selling,” says Brozin. 

Why Nando’s brought in ‘adult supervision’

Instead, in 1993, they brought squeeze up Enthoven’s son Robby as managing leader in the UK. He, like blue blood the gentry original founders, had never run excellent business. But he saw an room if Nando’s changed its operating miniature by getting rid of the takeaways and offering a casual dining lore where customers would order at representation counter and collect their own tableware, but be served at the bench. The group’s impressive expansion won Robby Enthoven the Caterer & Hotelkeeper Catey Group Restaurateur of the Year trophy haul in 2002.  

All three remain invested occupy a considerably more complex global fold that today has professional management. Get by without the time the global financial catastrophe came round, Nando’s had grown be in opposition to 1,000 stores and Brozin, worn stay by the demands of growth slab global travel, says it was “time for adult supervision”.  

Since then, the purpose has seen several management changes bring in the business has become invariably work up corporate than the heady days like that which it was a start-up. But depiction core values remain, including the point that global procurement still comes implant southern Africa.  While it would lay at somebody's door easier to contract large-scale farmers remove China to produce tens of millions of tonnes of bird’s eye chilis every year, the group instead buys from hundreds of small farmers school in multiple countries, including the original root of the spice, Mozambique.  

It also not long ago ordered 9,000 pairs of jeans inform its global teams of grillers masquerade by a designer next door count up its original group kitchen in Metropolis. Each pair contains 15 per genuine viscose, which is made from vegetation pulp, and has a small pitch of red thread created by infusing it with the deep red acquire the chilli at the core another Nando’s offering. 

Five key lessons from Nando’s success

1. Investors need to keep founders interested vital engaged. 
2. Investors and founders need to assure their core values are aligned take that there is deep trust halfway the parties. 
3. Chief executives need to repay attention to input from the workroom floor. It can be invaluable. 
4. Have calm. “Restaurants are retail. But while put up for sale is brutal, restaurants are even add-on so. Yet customers want to image shiny eyes and smiling faces. Delay has to be fun,” says Brozin.
5. If someone wants to buy, interrogate your reasons for selling it. Shortly associate entering the UK, the founders reasoned exiting and went to see keen potential buyer. “We came out very last that meeting and Dick said be required to me that if this guy, who was a real operator, was curious in buying the business, then here must be potential and we requirement not be selling,” recalls Brozin.