Crunchtime Unveils First-Ever UK Market Research: Expansion Continues, But Ops Gaps Loom Large

07 October 2025

New research uncovers major gaps in forecasting, vendor performance, and real-time operations visibility across UK multi-site restaurant brands.

Crunchtime Information Systems, Inc., the leading provider of operations management solutions for the restaurant industry, today shared the findings of its first-ever research study focused exclusively on the United Kingdom (UK) market, conducted in partnership with Technomic.

Drawing on insights from 100 multi-site restaurant operators across the UK, the brand-new report sheds light on both the momentum driving expansion and the operational challenges threatening to slow it down. The findings highlight that while expansion plans remain amid economic uncertainty, operational blind spots and vendor friction are significant growth challenges.

Key findings from the report include:

• Site growth plans remain despite economic concerns
  UK operators plan to open 20% more new locations on average in the next two years than they did in the past two, despite 78% feeling concerned about economic uncertainty.
  
  

• Visibility gaps into daily operations
  89% said real-time visibility into daily operational task completion is extremely or somewhat important, but only 31% of these operators have complete real-time visibility.
  
• Forecasting accuracy falls short
  UK operators say their sales forecasts are, on average, only 62% accurate, even though 82% are using some form of tech-based forecasting tools. 
  
• Growth depends on strong vendor support
  86% of UK operators strive to partner with vendors who can support their growth, but 90% who opened new locations experienced vendor-related challenges during growth, including cost increases, poor support, and lack of integration.

“This research makes it clear that UK operators are ambitious but need more reliable operational tools and partners to grow confidently,” said John Raguin, CEO of Crunchtime. “In an increasingly complex landscape, real-time visibility and dependable vendor collaboration are no longer optional—they’re essential.”

For greater detail into this research, download the UK Restaurant Growth Insights Report 2025 here. 

About Crunchtime: Crunchtime is how the world’s top restaurant brands achieve ops excellence in every location. Crunchtime software is used in over 150,000 locations in 100+ countries to manage inventory, staff scheduling, learning and development, food safety, operational tasks, and audits. Crunchtime enables customers, including Chipotle, Whitbread, Domino’s, Dunkin’, Five Guys, and P.F. Chang's, to control food and labor costs, and deliver great guest experiences.

About Technomic: Technomic Inc., an Informa Connect company, was founded as a management consulting firm in 1966. Since then, Technomic’s services have grown to encompass cloud-based B2B research tools, consumer and menu trend tracking and other leading strategic research and analytic capabilities, to prioritize and size business opportunities. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants, retailers and multiple other business verticals aligned with the food industry that are looking to make informed decisions to support their business growth. Visit Technomic at www.technomic.com.

Media Contacts:
Andrea Rogers
andrea@gollypr.com    

Julie Rudder
Sr. Director of Marketing
jrudder@crunchtime.com