Five Guys targets Heathrow as CEO defends 'premium' prices

FIVE Guys UK boss John Eckbert is mostly blasé about plans for new openings; he says the burger chain could open almost 150 more restaurants in the next few years.

- Daniel O'Boyle

But there's one location that really does seem to excite him that he has not yet cracked.

"We're desperate to be in Heathrow," he says. "We know that the Heathrow customer would love our products.

"In fact, the transport hubs in general would be great. Big rail stations, we'd love to be there. We'd love to take care of customers at Victoria, Waterloo, Kings Cross, actually in the stations.

"Particularly at Heathrow and the airports, you get people on all kind of time clocks coming over and wanting a burger all through the day, so that's perfect." It's a model that has worked for other food services businesses such as Greggs, which has set out plans to expand further in airports and stations, and Wagamama.

A decade after launching in the UK, as a joint venture between the firm's American owners and Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone, Five Guys hasn't changed that much.

Opening an airport location is almost as big a twist on the formula as it gets.

"We're not trendy. We're not successful because we put an avocado on a burger," Eckbert says.