Smacks Hamburgers

About Smacks Hamburgers

South London smash burger brand Smacks was founded in 2021 by Kaysor Ali, who is also behind the eight-strong casual steak dining business, Steakout. Smacks has since grown to 15 sites, including regional locations in Preston and Southport, and in August 2024 it opened its first overseas location, in Dubai’s Motor City - a residential development centred around the Formula 4 circuit at Dubai aerodrome.

“It’s a flagship store that is looking fantastic and is creating a great deal of excitement and interest in the region for locals, holiday makers and ex-pats from the UK,” said franchise director Mark Salter. “We’re already receiving enquiries across the Middle East, and our first store in the US opens in Virginia in 2025.”

Back home, Smacks is working through a pipeline of openings. “As most of our stores are currently in the Greater London region, we naturally have a great deal of demand from franchisees to open in this area,” Salter said. “We are currently working through applications from Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester and some seaside towns such as Weymouth. We will open 100 stores by 2028. The big change for us this year is that we're strengthening our management team to enable us to open more stores to keep up with demand.”

In December 2025, the brand opened its first equity store, in London’s Victoria, and said it had also commenced its first investment raise, to expedite store growth. The following month, Smash said it will focus its overseas expansion on the Middle East, after signing with franchise consultancy Presman & Colard, to kick-start its franchise development strategy both here and abroad. The following months, the brand said it will open ten new UK stores in 2026 and has begun talks on further international opportunities.

Ali said: “We believe Smacks has significant international appeal with a scalable and relevant offer that will work in nearly all markets, and the success we have seen to date in Motor City reinforces that thinking. As well as the Middle East, we have seen demand for our brand from other international markets such as the US, Canada and Europe. There are long-term opportunities for us, and we've already begun talks and early-stage planning in these areas. Our immediate focus for 2026 is to scale the UK and the Middle East, but we are open to discussions with master franchise experts in other areas of the globe.”

In March 2026, the brand said it is set to launch a fundraiser to accelerate new openings and is aiming for 20 new stores a year. The company’s pitch said: “The funds raised will allow us to accelerate the opening of new stores. Our aim is to open 20 new high-quality sites per year. We have current interest from Canada, US and the Middle East. 30% of stores will be head officed owned and 70% franchised. We believe that this hybrid model allows our brand to expand quickly and maximise profitability, while maintaining quality and brand integrity. Our mission is to have a Smacks in every major town and city in the UK.”

The company launched a £3.2m fundraise the following month and secured early backing from rappers-turned-entrepreneurs Krept & Konan, who joined the business as creative directors. The fundraise, launched with Allenby Capital, will support the next phase of its UK expansion and includes a £200,000 crowdfunding campaign via Republic. Ali said once this raise is completed, “we have already planned for a second round in a year to 18 months’ time of a further £2m, which will give us the capital we need to reach 100 stores globally”.

He also said Smacks would open its first transport hub site this summer, at Morden station in south London. He said: “Morden will be right at the entrance of the tube station. It’s a very busy location with high commuter footfall, and I’m excited to see how we perform there, especially with the early morning commuters - we just introduced a breakfast menu at our Cardiff site that we think will work excellently in Morden.”

In May 2026, Ali said despite the ongoing Middle East conflict, further expansion there is “still very much on the cards”. He said: “The Middle East expansion came about last year when an aggregator out here approached us saying we were the busiest restaurant in their area and they wanted to work with us and would cover the cost of a dark kitchen to expand us in the business bay area of Dubai. That was the plan, and it's very much still going to happen. We're due to go into a location, and we will have another location open there this calendar year.” Ali also said the company is underway in the legal process for entering Canada and that it is starting to be offered sites in the US, with Virginia and New York/New Jersey being mooted as market entry points.

Why franchise with Smacks Hamburgers

• ✓Franchise fee is £20,000 plus VAT, with set up costs of £130,000 to £170,000 depending on site size and location. Royalties are a flat £250-£500 per week depending on store size and location, while marketing contribution is 1% of net sales. Potential profits franchises would be expected to achieve would be £65,041 in year one, £75,965 in year two and £86,092 in year three.
• ✓Franchisees will receive start-up support (site selection, lease negotiations and legals, interior design, construction, layout and equipment); operational support (training, advertising, quality control, supply and stock control); three-week on site start up assistance and four-week preparation training in a restaurant; full supply chain and support; operational procedures and periodical store visits.
• ✓The franchise package includes the right to trade under the Smacks brand name; exclusive territory; a central website; menu, stationary and artwork; benefit of group buying power; supply of Smacks recipes and sauces and pre-portioned meat and poultry; networked EPOS system to manage ordering, stock and food cost analysis; and ongoing marketing and business via an established web presence.
• ✓“We work closely and in partnership with excellent franchisees, who have had great success and wish to open more stores,” Salter said. “We exhibited for the first time at the London International Franchise Show this year – until this point, all of our partners have approached us organically. The franchisees we work with all have drive, passion, good ethics and care greatly about their business.”

Investment breakdown