Abu Dhabi: Tablez Food Company, the food and beverage arm of Lulu International Group, is planning to invest Dh150 million in capital expenditure to almost double its locations from the current 31 to 57 by 2018.

With 400 employees at present, Tablez plans to increase the number by more than fourfold to have 1,800 working across its different dining outlets by 2018, according to Shafeena Yusuff Ali, the company’s chief executive officer.

In an interview with Gulf News, Yusuff Ali said that Tablez is looking at expanding its current brands and bringing in new ones to the UAE.

Currently, Tablez has Peppermill Indian Restaurant, Bloomsbury’s, Galito’s, and London Dairy operating under it, with Peppermill and Bloomsbury’s being home-grown names, while the two latter ones are franchises.

“We have five Peppermills at the moment, so we’ll go up to 12 by 2018. We’re going to have up to 18 Galito’s from four. We’re revolutionising the concept of Bloomsbury’s, so it’s getting a new look and feel, and we’ll take it from five up to 10 across the UAE,” the CEO said.

She added that Bloomsbury’s rebranding will see it move from being a tea and pastry shop to a bistro serving proper meals towards the end of this year.

The company recently also signed franchise agreements with Famous Dave’s, a barbecue concept in the US, and Genghis Grill, an Asian grill house also based in the US.

“We’ve already taken a site for Famous Dave’s, and it’s going to be up in January 2016. We’ve signed the location, and we’re in the process of getting the shop up and running now. Genghis Grill should also be operational by the end of this year or beginning of next year,” Yuseff Ali said.

Each of the new brands is expected to have five locations by 2018.

Another home-grown concept of Tablez’s is De Thali, an Indian restaurant, whose locations have been closed temporarily to undergo rebranding and renovations.

“We’re constantly talking to new brands. I was in London last week in talks, and our focus is always to bring quality foods to the UAE. There’s a celebrity-visited concept called Sugar Factory, which we are in conversation with, and we’ve already signed an agreement,” she said.

Sugar Factory is set to debut in the UAE in 2018.

Tablez is also looking into an Italian food concept, a burger brand, and a Filipino food outlet, but none of these have been finalised.

The company’s brands are currently mostly present in the UAE, but there are plans to open a few outlets in India, and across the GCC.

“By the end of this year we’re going to have agreements in place with companies registered in Saudi, Bahrain, and Qatar for sub-franchises. Our parent company, Lulu, is already based in those countries, so obviously, this is an advantage for us because it makes setting up easier,” Yusuff Ali said.

She added that Tablez has recently signed an agreement to bring Cold Stone Creamery, the ice cream brand, to India, and plans to open a Galito’s outlet there soon.

Asked about oil prices, the CEO said that though consumer spending may drop, the impact of that could be offset by growth in tourism in the UAE.

However, as the oil industry sees falling profits, Yusuff Ali said Tablez was expecting increased profitability on the back of lower transport costs since the majority of the food is imported.