CLARO Café
CompletedMultiple locations, UAE
A growing speciality café whose operations had to keep up with its brand: a new menu, a new Head Chef and a trained team.
02/FIX · Restaurant turnaround & performance
Your restaurant can perform better.
From declining sales and rising costs to a team that isn’t delivering, we find the real cause and fix it, on the ground, with your team.
Where we help
What’s holding your business back?
Whether you’re losing money, struggling with operations or simply not achieving your potential, the first step is understanding what’s really happening.
Customer traffic is declining, average spend is falling or marketing isn’t delivering meaningful results.
What we investigate
See the services: Sales aren’t growing.- Customer demand and market positioning
- Pricing and menu performance
- Marketing strategy and channel performance
- Sales mix, average spend and repeat business
- Competitive landscape
Food costs, labour expenses, waste or overheads are reducing profitability.
What we investigate
See the services: Costs are eating your margins.- Food and beverage cost percentages
- Purchasing, supplier pricing and inventory controls
- Labour productivity and staff scheduling
- Waste, portion control and operational efficiency
- Overheads, contribution margins and profitability
Weak leadership, inconsistent training or unclear responsibilities are affecting daily operations.
What we investigate
See the services: Your team isn’t performing.- Management structure and leadership effectiveness
- Staffing levels, roles and responsibilities
- Recruitment and employee retention
- Training standards and performance management
- Team productivity and accountability
Inconsistent standards, inefficient processes and constant firefighting are preventing the business from running smoothly.
What we investigate
See the services: Operations feel out of control.- Daily operating procedures and SOP compliance
- Service quality and customer experience
- Kitchen workflows and operational efficiency
- Quality control and management oversight
- Reporting routines and operational accountability
Your positioning, menu, pricing or customer experience no longer matches what the market wants.
What we investigate
See the services: The concept isn’t connecting.- Brand positioning and target customer
- Menu relevance, product mix and pricing
- Customer feedback and market perception
- Competitor positioning and market trends
- Opportunities for concept refinement or repositioning
Unreliable reporting, weak financial controls or missing performance data make it difficult to identify problems and make decisions.
What we investigate
See the services: You can’t see what’s really happening.- Financial reporting and P&L accuracy
- Revenue, cost and profitability tracking
- Inventory, purchasing and cash controls
- Operational KPIs and management reporting
- Data quality, systems and decision-making processes
Our approach
We don’t just identify problems. We fix them.
From understanding what’s going wrong to implementing changes on the ground, we work alongside your team to improve performance and build a stronger business.
Zeora’s FIX work is led by Mark Towning, who has spent 20+ years running hospitality operations in the UK and UAE, from multiple McDonald’s outlets to casual dining and dark kitchens.
Diagnose
The audit: we examine the numbers, operations, people and customer experience to understand what’s really affecting performance.
Prioritise
We rank what to fix first: the quick fixes to apply straight away, and the larger changes that need a detailed plan.
Implement
Hands-on execution
We work directly with management and operational teams: quick fixes straight away, and the larger changes the plan calls for, run in parallel.
Measure & Improve
We track performance against agreed KPIs, refine our approach and establish accountability for sustained improvement. Once it performs, RUN can manage it for you, or OPEN your next site.
Need a full turnaround or help with one specific challenge? We can do both.
It starts with the audit: a fixed price agreed up front, 7 to 10 working days for a single site, everything under NDA. The report is yours, whether or not Zeora does the fixes.
Our FIX services
The right intervention. Where it matters most.
From a focused operational assessment to a complete business turnaround, we provide the expertise and hands-on support your hospitality business needs to perform better.
Business Diagnostics
Where everything starts: a complete, honest picture.
Full Restaurant Audit
On-site visits and a full review of operations, numbers, costs and expenses, then a complete written diagnosis report with broad-strokes direction on what would fix it.
Operational Audit
A focused look at specific systems and processes, to identify inefficiencies and opportunities.
Financial & Cost Control
Numbers you can trust, and costs that come down.
Financial & Reporting Systems
Financial and reporting systems set up so the numbers you run the business on are numbers you can actually trust.
Sourcing & Procurement
Better sourcing strategies and a more efficient supply chain: lower costs, same quality.
Waste & Energy Efficiency
Greener practices that cut waste and energy use, and the cost that comes with them.
Revenue & Marketing
A menu priced for margin, a brand that resonates, more guests.
Menu Re-Engineering
The menu re-priced, re-mixed and redesigned for margin, and aligned with what the market wants now.
Brand & Positioning Refresh
Updated identity, visuals and positioning for a brand that’s gone stale, so it resonates again.
Marketing & Guest Growth
Improved campaigns and local engagement to attract new guests and bring existing ones back.
Events, Pop-Ups & Food Trucks
The brand taken on the road or into special events, to grow visibility and sales beyond the venue.
People & Operations
The right team, documented systems, trained to run them.
Team Restructuring & Hiring
Staff gaps filled, roles restructured, people retrained where needed, and performance improved.
Systems, SOPs & Automation
SOPs optimised and documented, the team trained to run them, and routine work automated.
Turnaround & Recovery
After the audit: quick fixes straight away, and the structure rebuilt to hold.
Quick Fixes & Recovery Plan
The first weeks of Implement: immediate fixes applied to whatever can be corrected fast, while a detailed, sized plan for the larger correction (what it involves, how big it is, what it costs) is worked out in parallel.
Turnaround Execution
Implement at full scale: the detailed plan carried out (menu, systems, team, brand, sometimes the lease itself) at the scale it defined.
Our work
Real businesses. Real improvements.
From operational restructuring to ongoing performance improvement, we work directly with hospitality businesses to address challenges and build stronger operations.
The HOST
In progressDubai & Al Ain, UAE
Supporting operational improvements, management coordination and the resolution of business challenges.
Middle Café
In progressDubai & Al Ain, UAE
Supporting the improvement of an established café business through operational refinement and brand development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Better performance. Starts with answers.
Practical answers about improving restaurant performance, addressing operational challenges and working with Zeora.
It depends on the size and complexity of the business: single site, multi-site or multi-brand. You get a fixed price before anything starts, once we understand the scope.
Yes. The audit is a complete, standalone deliverable and the report is yours. Many clients act on it themselves. If you want Zeora to carry it out, that’s a separate, separately priced conversation.
Yes. An NDA is signed before anything is shared. That’s non-negotiable, given how much visibility the audit requires.
7 to 10 working days for a single, straightforward site. 6 to 8 weeks for a multi-site or multi-brand review with real complexity.
Sometimes it is. A full rebuild or rebrand is more than some owners want to commit to in time or cost. That’s your decision, not something we hand down as a verdict. It’s worth knowing that a distressed business rarely sells for anywhere near a fair price, so selling isn’t an easy shortcut. It’s usually the harder financial outcome. If you do go that way, RUN’s Exit process exists to get you the best possible outcome rather than a rushed, undervalued sale.
Quick fixes are immediate corrections applied right away. The bigger plan, sized and detailed at the same time, covers anything that needs deeper work, from a partial rebuild to a full turnaround. Both happen in parallel, not one after the other.
Yes. The audit scales to cover every location, though it takes longer and the findings are naturally more complex once there are several sites’ numbers to reconcile.
Busy, losing money or underperforming?
30 minutes with Mark will tell you whether this is worth pursuing. The actual diagnosis is what the audit is for. No charge, no pitch.