The partnership opens a new growth channel for the Indian street food café brand, beginning with its first hospital café at Wexham Park Hospital.
UK-based Indian street food café chain Chaiiwala has entered a strategic partnership with Compass Group UK & Ireland’s retail division, One Retail, to accelerate its expansion across hospitals, airports, railway stations and other high-footfall locations across the UK. The partnership has already delivered its first opening at Frimley Health’s Wexham Park Hospital, marking Chaiiwala’s entry into the hospital catering and retail market.
The new café represents a shift in Chaiiwala’s expansion strategy, taking its format beyond traditional high-street locations and into institutional and travel-focused environments. The companies are now exploring a pipeline of additional locations across the country, with hospitals and transport hubs among the priority channels.
Located at Wexham Park Hospital, the first joint outlet has two access points, allowing customers to enter from inside the hospital as well as through a separate external entrance. The café serves Chaiiwala’s full menu alongside grab-and-go options, catering to hospital employees, patients and visitors.
The partnership brings together Chaiiwala’s established Indian street food café concept and One Retail’s experience in operating food and beverage outlets across healthcare, education, workplace and travel environments. For Chaiiwala, the collaboration offers access to locations that would be difficult to develop through conventional high-street expansion alone.
Sohail Ali, Co-Founder of Chaiiwala, said the agreement represents an important step in the company’s UK growth strategy, highlighting the opportunity to take the brand into hospitals, airports and rail hubs.
The company has spent recent years strengthening its operational systems, customer experience and infrastructure to support expansion while maintaining consistency across its network.
Andy Jones, Managing Director of One Retail, said the partnership would help diversify the company’s brand portfolio and create food and beverage offers suited to different customer environments. He also identified travel hubs as a particularly promising area for future development.
Chaiiwala’s Franchise-Led Growth Strategy
The agreement with One Retail adds another expansion channel to Chaiiwala’s wider growth ambitions. The brand has built its UK presence through a combination of company-operated and franchised locations, positioning franchising as a central part of its expansion model.
According to its franchise website, Chaiiwala operates more than 115 UK stores and is targeting 500 locations globally by 2035. The brand is also expanding internationally, with Canada and the UAE among its overseas markets.
Its franchise proposition includes site selection, store fit-outs, training, supply chain support and marketing. The company currently indicates a typical franchise investment range of £180,000 to £300,000, depending on the location, site requirements and fit-out.
The Compass Group partnership, however, is a separate strategic operating and location-expansion arrangement rather than an announced master franchise agreement. It gives Chaiiwala access to One Retail’s network and expertise in non-traditional retail environments.
With the first hospital café now operational, the partnership provides Chaiiwala with an additional route to grow its UK footprint while introducing its Indian street food offering to new customer segments.
Further locations are in the pipeline, although the companies have not yet disclosed specific opening dates or the number of cafés planned under the agreement.
