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Las Iguanas is the name of Latin American restaurant in UK. It brings delicious and
authentic Latin American food and drinks to customers and serves it in an environment which
evokes the very best of the Latin life.

Carvery is a traditional Welsh restaurant located in Upperboat, Mid Glamorgan. It offers

tradition foods and drinks, it also runs bar after supper. Compare with Las Iguanas, it seems
to target a lower-end of the dinning market and tends to satisfy the mass. Both of the
restaurants have private ownerships, but the Las Iguanas has a larger Private-Limited
Company has a larger pool of investors, which also contain self-managed chain stores in
more than 10 cities in the UK.

These two restaurants gain lots of advantages from private ownership, because to be a
private company, it separates legal entity so their personal assets are never in any danger
(Limited Liability); their liability of the directors is limited and private company can have a
maximum of 50 members this will help they find investor participate to the business and
expand economy of scale. Private ownership also easily transfers their shares, and could
benefit from continuity of family control.

Also they have negative points on private ownership. These restaurants pay a stable rate
on tax regardless of income; the law requires disclosure the financial affairs, and the taxation
agency must performed audit them every year.

The Las Iguanas started in 1991. In that period, it was only a small restaurant which
offers fresh ingredients, mouth-watering regional food and drink, and service from passionate
people, but it brought a tasty blend of traditional and the new to the city. The founder of Las
Iguanas found a business opportunity to expand his business that Latin American food not to
be well know at that time. Therefore, this niche market easily entered and expanded without
many competitors. So many years later, a small restaurant became a great brand of Latin
American restaurant and had more than 20 branches.

The Las Iguanas restaurant chain has over 20 restaurants throughout the UK. One of Las
Iguanas restaurant in Cardiff central has been viewed most favourably by their diners. Las
Iguanas restaurant occupied a large area in Cardiff Central. When customers came to the
restaurant, they would see a large bar counter and over 100 dining tables in it. This branch is
one of the Las Iguanas ultimately in controlled by local owners, they are the ones who decide
to make or lose the most due to the success or failure of the restaurant. These owners are
responsible for hiring the general manager and may also choose the executive chef. This is a
way to the chain of restaurant command that makes the best staff for each part of restaurant.
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Letter Name of Carvery

A Toby(Rogerstone)

B Olde Oak

C Toby (Pontprennau)

D Best Western Parkway

E Upper Boat Studios Crown Carvery

F Barons Court (Toby)

G Cedar Tree

H Premire Inn Hotel (linked to Cedar Tree)

Fig.1 Direct/Indirect Competition of Carvery

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Letter Name of Latino Bar

A Club Latinos

B NO 10

C Salsa Beuena

D Las Iganas

E Tucan Club

F Bute Park (dancing only)

G Cuba Bar and Grill

H Millennium Stadium (dancing only)

I Sandringham Hotel

J Patua Dance co

Fig.2 Direct/Indirect Competition of Las Iguanas

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Fig.3 Five Forces Model for Carvery (M. Porter 1968)

Fig.4 Five Forces Model (M. Porter 1968)

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The both companies have competition surrounding them as displayed in figure ......
and figure......

The Carvery also has competition from Tesco and local pub`s during Sundays and
festive seasons like Christmas, Easter and Mothers day etc. However, the Latino bar does
not have competition during certain periods of the year.

The Latino bar has more competitors some of which provide entertainment but Las
Iguanas does not do so. Las Iguanas also sells products online such as t shirts and music
whereas its competitors do not.

Porters five forces analyses the industry performance, how easy it is for companies to
enter the market both companies are already in. Rivalry is high as the customers can
move to substitutes due to a variety of restaurants surrounding the companies and the
direct competitors displayed in figure....... for Las iguanas and figure ....... for The crown
Carvery. The direct competitors also use the same strategy and are approximately the
same size of business. It is easy for the customer to switch from one substitute to another.
The threat of an organisation entering these industries is high as the entry barriers are low.

The unique selling point that the Carvery has is the price, as a buffet for only £3.69
means each person can eat for under £5 this is lower than all its competitors prices .It is
busy all day long with families, business people and students enjoying the variety of
cooked meat and vegetables on offer, allowing many variations for regular customers as
well as those that prefer one item to another, the mix and match is appealing to most
palates. A friendly and convivial atmosphere compliments the decor of the environment.
View, Cardiff`s website clearly displays the review that the Carvery is well known for its
unique selling point. View Cardiff has reviewed the Carvery as a 3* rating but part of the
review is unclear on the website as there is no customer star rating.

Las Iguanas is well known for its good quality food and as Wales¶s online states
µdeal of two¶ for one on lot of cocktails is honored until 9pm, even on Friday and
Saturdays. The company¶s unique selling point is a lunchtime set menu of two courses
and a drink starting at £8.90. The lighting is low and intimate, which sits well with the
carnival tunes used as background music.
 
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As discussed previously, our current catering market has been ³price-led´ ever since
the credit-crunch started; the eating out market was arguably over-reliant on the discount
culture during the recession. As restaurant owners look to regain a grip on margins, the
broad approach to discounting has been replaced with a more restrictive and selective
strategy such as electronic coupons and online orderings which tends to focus on
sustainability. Mintel, (2010)

As consumers are forced to reduce their spending, restaurants have to work harder, to
get their customers out of their house and eat outside: but which parts of the eating out
µexperience¶ are really important to diners and which are just passing fads? Is it just the
price?

Las Iguana as cultural based restaurant that has been focused on theme-creation has
been forced to bring up similar strategy to maintain their position, in late 2009, it has
been exploiting the younger population for ³Couple Meal´ and ³40 for the night´,
maintained their position in the Latin-Restaurant Sector and has shown flexibility to
change over the past two years. As shown by their financial report below:

Figure : Las Iguanas Limited, financial performance, 2008 and 2009

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Turnover (£000) 17,902 24,639 +37.6

Operating profit (£000) 1,269 1,479 +16.5
Pre-tax profit (£000) 1,120 1,495 +33.5
Profit for the year
833 1,508 +80.9
(£000)
Operating margin (%) 7.1 6.0 -
Pre-tax profit margin
6.3 6.1 -
(%)
Net profit margin (%) 4.7 6.1 -

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Despite the 30% change in their turnover, Las Iguanas has also transferred their image
from ³just´ Latin style to the slogan of ³Eat Healthy, Eat Latin´, and successfully walked
through the recession, remained as the second-largest chain of Latin Restaurant in the UK
and seeking for overseas expansion.

Different from the Iguanas, Carvery as a SME has simply maintained their price of £5
per person image and has even benefited from the economic downturn, as it is easy,
convenient, and is preferred by most people. Thought a group of their customer has been
drifted away by the take-away and their discount promotions, it has attracted more
middle-ranged families, and as described by one of their Chef, he didn¶t get the feel of
recession, even felt busier and has been frequently asked for more shifts.

However, though SMEs like the Carvery has benefited from the economic downturn, it
doesn¶t mean that it is has immunity against economical changes. It is only because they
are in a market position where the diners are drifting to and Las Iguanas had to move
there.

As described by the bar-tender, she has seen any changes in the house for 8 years apart
from compulsory maintenance. It is harder for SME operators to make effective large-
scale promotion or organisational image change, The Carvery has done nothing wrong. It
has a growing, reliable group of fixed, loyal customers in the local area.

There might be a lot of benefit for being a large organisation like Las Iguanas, being
able to take a hit from the economy and recover, being able to drift images and catching
up to the environment. It is more flexible of being an SME, as they has less spending and
more stable turnover, there seems to an equal mark between threats and opportunities.

 
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Lydia Whitfield. (2009). 
 


 
  Available:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/food-in-wales/eating-out-in-
wales/2009/03/16/restaurant-review-las-iguanas-cardiff-91466-23155514/. Last accessed
27th November 2010.

Kreitner, Robert Organizational behaviour. - 2nd European ed. . - London: McGraw Hill,
2002 . ± 0077098285

Martin, John, 1957- Organizational behaviour & management. - 4th ed. . - Andover: South-
Western Cengage Learning, 2010. ± 1408018128

Mintel Oxygen, Eating Out Review - UK - July 2009.

Mintel Oxygen, Ethnic Restaurants and Takeaways - UK - August 2010

Mintel Oxygen, Impact of the Recession on Eating Out Habits - UK - October 2010

Mintel Oxygen, Food Retailing - UK - November 2009

View Cardiff. (2010). 
 

 
 Available:

http://www.viewcardiff.co.uk/restaurants/las-iguanas-userreview-35261.html. Last accessed
26th November 2010.

View Cardiff (2010).    Available:

http://www.viewcardiff.co.uk/pubsandbars/upper-boat-inn-userreview-34724.html. Last
accessed 26th November 2010.