There’s no shortage of advice out there. Half of it sounds like it came from someone who’s never priced a menu or staffed a double shift during a Friday dinner service. That’s not how we work.
Pearl Lemon Consulting has worked with restaurants, cafés, QSR chains, hotel F&B teams, cloud kitchens, and food brands across London. We get into the guts of the business — the operations, the cost structures, the inventory systems, the branding, the marketing, and the tech stack. We find the cash leaks. We fix them. And we do it fast.
Our Services
We don’t just offer suggestions. We rebuild what isn’t working. Every offer below is built to solve a direct, tangible problem that’s already costing you money.
Menu Engineering and Profit Rebalancing
Issue: You’re selling what people like but not what makes you money.
How do we fix it:
We run a gross margin analysis at the item level and apply a weighted contribution model across the menu. Every dish is assigned a role: driver, filler, decoy, or anchor. Using menu matrix modeling, we align high-margin items with high-demand slots to increase net profit per cover without touching footfall.
Typical result: +7-15% net margin in 30–60 days.
Cost Control & Operational Systems
Issue: You’re making sales but the P&L is still bleeding.
How we fix it:
We benchmark your current cost of goods sold (COGS) and labour percentages against location-specific standards. Then, we recalibrate procurement, portioning, prep flows, and vendor negotiations. We map daily operations into SOPs, and where applicable, insert cloud-based control systems (like MarketMan or xtraCHEF) to automate reconciliation and flag slippage.
Typical result: 10–25% drop in wastage and shrinkage.
Concept Development & Format Refinement
Issue: Your brand feels scattered, or your format isn’t scaling.
How we fix it:
We perform market mapping and format segmentation, identifying whitespace opportunities across cuisine categories, service style, and experience model. We refine the operating model and value proposition using localised trend analysis (not trend-chasing), helping you tighten identity and format compatibility for future franchising or site replication.
Typical result: 3x increase in per-location ROI post-format adjustment.
Customer Experience Architecture
Issue: Great food. Poor retention.
How we fix it:
We measure dwell time, table turnover, and repeat visit rates. We overlay that with guest journey mapping from digital first contact (Google, Instagram, delivery apps) to post-visit follow-up. Then we re-sequence staff scripts, table-side flow, layout zoning, and delivery presentation.
Typical result: 22–45% lift in retention over 6–12 weeks.
F&B Marketing Execution
Issue: Your growth depends too heavily on footfall or third-party delivery apps.
How we fix it:
We create a media plan aligned to your average ticket size, sales capacity, and location saturation. We plug in CRM sequences, geo-fenced ad campaigns, and owned media funneling to lead direct orders and loyalty club entries.
Typical result: CAC down 30–50%, direct orders up 40–70%.
Kitchen Workflow Engineering
Issue: Tickets are delayed, service is inconsistent, and staff burnout is high.
How we fix it:
We run a kitchen throughput study, cross-referencing prep schedules, cookline configuration, mise en place set-up, and cross-functional role assignments. We insert lean process controls (based on QSR modelling and Six Sigma Lite) to eliminate choke points.
Typical result: Up to 35% faster ticket time, better table turnover, and lower staff attrition.
Franchise & Multi-Site Scaling Systems
Issue: You’ve nailed the first site. Everything after that has been chaos.
How we fix it:
We systematise everything — hiring, onboarding, ops, training, quality control, marketing, and reporting. We build a franchise kit including manuals, video training, brand playbooks, tech stack templates, and compliance binders.
Typical result: Locations scaling in under 90 days with <5% deviation from brand performance KPIs.
Turnaround & Crisis Management
Issue: You’re close to shutting the doors.
How we fix it:
We start with a 72-hour triage. Sales forecast vs. fixed obligations. Debt structure. Team morale. Supplier viability. Then we rebuild a survival budget, renegotiate contracts, and re-prioritise sales channels. We apply battle-tested tactics to stop the bleeding — promotions with fixed ROI triggers, menu compression, dynamic pricing, guerrilla marketing, local B2B alliances.
Typical result: Many of our clients add 15–30% to monthly revenue and buy back 3–6 months of runway.
Why Work With Us?
We’re not theorists. We’re operators. We’ve worked every job from dishwasher to brand director.
We use:
- Itemised margin modelling — we don’t just look at gross revenue, we check what you keep.
- POS + CRM integration audits — if your systems don’t talk, you’re wasting money.
- Market location analysis tools — postcode-level traffic, demo targeting, cuisine fit ratios.
- Variance tracking — to identify theft, waste, and hidden staff misuse of resources.
- Pre/post interventions analytics — to measure change down to cost-per-plate and £/sq ft yield.
Every decision is grounded in hard numbers. If it doesn’t pay for itself, we don’t do it.
Itemised margin modelling
we don’t just look at gross revenue, we check what you keep.
POS + CRM integration audits
From ARIMA to Monte Carlo simulation—we don’t shy away from what works.
Market location analysis tools
postcode-level traffic, demo targeting, cuisine fit ratios.
Variance tracking
to identify theft, waste, and hidden staff misuse of resources.
Pre/post interventions analytics
to measure change down to cost-per-plate and £/sq ft yield.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate actual profit per menu item?
We track ingredient cost, prep time, portion variance, and average ticket impact. Then we assign contribution margins and model ideal menu flow based on order data.
Can you help us reduce dependency on Deliveroo and Uber Eats?
Yes. We design owned ordering funnels with CRM triggers and retargeting to push repeat orders through direct channels, cutting out up to 35% in commission fees.
What’s the best labour cost target for a high-street casual restaurant in London?
Typically 25–30% of gross sales, adjusted for service style and opening hours. We build a staff scheduling matrix that aligns shifts with sales curves to hit those benchmarks.
Do you work with vegan, halal, or niche food businesses?
Absolutely. We’ve built niche cuisine brands from scratch. We factor in audience segmentation, supplier constraints, and cultural markers from day one.
What software stack do you recommend for F&B operations?
Depends on the size. For under 3 locations: MarketMan, Toast POS, and Mailchimp. Multi-site: SynergySuite, SevenRooms, and Gusto HR. We’ll match the stack to your goals.
Can you help with franchising if we’ve never done it before?
Yes. We write the full playbook — training, manuals, QA, brand systems — and help with legal structuring, franchisee onboarding, and rollouts.
Do you work with hotels or just restaurants?
We work with both. For hotels, we align restaurant operations with the guest experience funnel, upsell systems, and cross-channel guest data.
Let’s Fix What’s Costing You Before It Gets Worse
You’ve already put too much into this business to run on guesswork. It’s time to fix what’s costing you and scale what’s working.
Book a consultation now — we’ll bring the plan. You bring ambition.
