UK. Travel restaurateur SSP Group is to debut a new concept at Gatwick Airport, with restaurant The Breakfast Club. It will bring brunch favourites from the UK high street brand to the travel environment for the first time.
Dishes on The Breakfast Club menu will include ‘The All American’ with fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon and sausages; homestyle potatoes with fried eggs and maple syrup; and the more traditional English ‘fry-up’, ‘The Full Monty’. A variety of vegetarian and vegan options will also be on offer, along with a cocktail menu.
SSP said The Breakfast Club aims to provide quality food at an affordable price point which will appeal to early morning travellers, such as families looking for an indulgent brunch before their flights.
On the high street, over half of The Breakfast Club’s trade occurs before 12pm. SSP noted that this makes it a particularly strong offer for Gatwick, where approximately 45% of the airport’s flights take off before midday, making breakfast offers an essential part of the F&B mix.
SSP UK & Ireland Kari Daniels CEO said: “At SSP, we have a long history of working closely with popular high street brands to make them relevant to the travelling customer. We’re hugely proud of partnering with The Breakfast Club on this exciting opening and have worked closely with the brand team over the past two years, to deliver the great offer and experience at Gatwick that The Breakfast Club is famous for.”
She added: “This restaurant brand is a great addition to our portfolio, and we see significant scope to open up more The Breakast Club restaurants in airports in the future.”
The Breakfast Club Co-Founder Jonathan Arana-Morton noted that The Breakfast Club story began 18 years ago when he and his sister-in-law first set out to provide a “true local café experience” for people in Soho. Today, the brand operates venues in London, Brighton, Oxford and Chelmsford.
He said of the new airport venture: “Our goal has always been to deliver a warm, welcoming, ‘arms wide open’ hospitality experience to our guests and we hope this new restaurant and our food and drink will be the perfect way for travellers to kick off their holiday.
“18 years of looking after this business has made us hugely protective about the brand and who we work with, so it is very reassuring to be partnering with SSP and their operational expertise. It’s a source of enormous pride for us to be welcoming The Breakfast Club customers, old and new, to such a high-profile location at this prestigious London airport.”
Gatwick Airport Retail Director Rachel Bulford said: “We are really excited to welcome The Breakfast Club to Gatwick Airport this summer and are honoured to be their first airport-based restaurant. This will provide another fantastic dining option for our passengers before they take off.
“We know how important the airport breakfast experience is to our passengers at any time of day – but particularly given a large number of our flights depart before midday. So we expect The Breakfast Club to be a really popular addition to our North Terminal.
“The Breakfast Club restaurants can be found across London and the South East, so to bring their brand to Gatwick really reflects our location and celebrates what the region has to offer.” 
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes the FAB Newsletter, which features highlights of openings, events and campaigns from around the world of airport and travel dining. Please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com to subscribe.
