Concept & design
Restaurant, bar and food hall concepts, spatial planning, back-of-house kitchen design and equipment specification — project managed to opening night.
Explore concept & designFood & beverage consultancy, from concept to opening
Ford McDonald Consultancy is an independent food and beverage consultancy. Since 1992 we have developed restaurants, food halls and food retail concepts for department stores, hotels, retailers and operators across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia — from the first feasibility study through to a trading, profitable operation.
What we do
Six connected disciplines, delivered by one team that has run restaurants, food halls and food retail businesses in its own right.
Food & wine retail
Product ranging, own-label development, merchandising, supplier negotiation and retail operating standards for food halls and food markets.
Explore food retailRestaurants & food service
Menu engineering, kitchen productivity, service standards and commercial review of new and underperforming restaurant operations.
Explore restaurantsRecruitment & training
Senior appointments, full team recruitment, induction, service training and the operating handbooks that hold standards in place.
Explore recruitment & trainingProperty & finance
Feasibility studies, site appraisal, capital and kitchen budgets, sales forecasting and financial modelling for new ventures.
Explore property & financeCase studies
InterContinental Hotels Group, la Rinascente, Tsvetnoy Central Market, Jumeirah, The Savoy, LEGO and the Eden Project.
Read our case studiesA track record you can check
30+years in food & beverage
£140m+capital projects advised
2RIBA architecture awards
4continents delivered
The partnership and our philosophy
The Ford McDonald Consultancy offers a raft of expert services spanning all facets of the food industry, from hospitality to retail. We have the know-how to address your specific operational, managerial or creative requirement and to develop projects from concept to completion, delivering you a 'turnkey' operation.
Ultimately, a fine-tuned menu or range is at the core of any successful culinary or food shopping experience, so this is our natural starting point. We use our expansive knowledge of the food world and scrutinize new trends to ensure your offer is perfectly positioned.
Beyond that, successful businesses need a solid platform across the whole customer experience. This is where our diversity provides intuitive, comprehensive and sound advice, based on experience as innovative and profitable operators in our own right.
Whether creating a new business from start-up or reinvigorating an existing operation, our independent position and fresh perspective brings clarity and dynamism to any project.
Ford McDonald provide a complete service for food & drink retailers, from concept design to operational practices and procedures and retail management.
Selected clients
We have delivered food and beverage projects for department stores, luxury hotels, restaurant groups and food markets worldwide.
Resources we recommend
Between projects we keep a short list of references we share with clients, candidates and the odd curious guest — trade bodies, directories, and a few market notes for the retail side of a brief. When a food hall opens inside a department store, one comes up again and again: the watch-market reference we keep, because the watch floor next door is part of the commercial picture. The full list is on the resources page.
Common questions
What does a food and beverage consultancy actually do?
We take a food or drink business from idea to trading operation: feasibility and financial modelling, concept and design, kitchen planning, product ranging, recruitment and training, and the operating standards that keep the offer consistent after opening.
How long does a typical project take?
A focused operational review runs two to six weeks. A full concept-to-opening project — as we delivered for Tsvetnoy Central Market or Park Plaza Westminster Bridge — typically runs 12 to 24 months depending on construction.
Do you work with independent operators as well as large groups?
Yes. We have worked from single-site start-ups such as The Quince Tree through to international groups including InterContinental Hotels Group and Jumeirah.
Planning a restaurant, food hall or food retail project?
Tell us about the site, the brief and the timescale. We will tell you honestly what it takes to open it well.