Benjys was the first low priced chain of

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

shops in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The first branch of Benjys was opened in 1989 in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

by Paul Benjamin. The Benjamin family expanded the company offering low priced takeaway food, until it was sold for around £40 million in Aug 2000. The range of products included salads, yoghurts, hot food (such as hot sandwiches, jacket potatoes, pies and paninis), fresh fruit, Weight Watchers products, wraps, pastries, tea and coffee, an Atkins followers low-carb range, soft drinks, snack foods, and a range of bread products, including sandwiches, rolls, torpedoes and paninis. All Benjys products were produced at a central production unit based in 90 Monier Road, Bow, East London which was opened in 1999. They employed approximately 200 staff at the unit. Benjys was awarded Sandwich Retailer of the Year, Sandwich Manufacturer of the Year and Marketeer of the Year by the

British Sandwich Association The British Sandwich & Food to Go Association (BSA) was founded in January 1990 and is based in Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the ...

in 2003 and Workplace Sandwich Supplier of the Year in 2005. Benjys Van Franchise ("Vanchise") business, Benjys Delivered, was launched in Sept 2003. The launch went public in September 2003 at the National Franchise Exhibition, held at the NEC. By 2007 there were 100 vans in operation. In a backed

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

buyout, the company expanded through

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

. Most of the sixty company branches were located in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the South East of England, with franchises in major cities outside the South East, such as

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

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and

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. The new management expanded turnover further by selling via van-operators in business parks. By 2006 the chain had 60 stores in London and the South East employing over 650 people. In 2006, the company went into a pre-packaged administration at the request of

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

and backers ECI Ventures, and was sold by

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

-backed Hamilton Bradshaw. Administrators were appointed in February 2007, when the company finally collapsed. At the time, Benjys employed over 650 people.

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References

Fast-food chains of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1989 Restaurants established in 1989 Fast-food franchises {{UK-retail-company-stub