Tue 9th Sep 2025 - Burger & Lobster founder Misha Zelman to step down as CEO as business reports ‘strong’ performance in 2024 Burger & Lobster founder Misha Zelman to step down as CEO as business reports ‘strong’ performance in 2024: Burger & Lobster founder Misha Zelman is to step down as chief executive as the business reported a “strong” performance in 2024. The 19-strong group saw UK restaurants’ sales for the year ending 29 December 2024 amount to £32.3m (2023: £36.1m), delivering Ebitda of £3.3m (2023: £3.6m) “despite a challenging economic environment”. UK group operating profit was up to £2.0m (2023: £1.8m). The group, which also has a site in New York, has opened two new UK sites in 2025 – in Kensington, west London, and Brighton, and said it continues to look at further opportunities both in the UK and abroad. Burger & Lobster also have several franchise partnerships across the Middle East and Asia, which last year helped contribute to a total Ebitda of £4.1m, which was a 14% increase on the previous year. This further enhanced the brand’s net assets, which is at £19m, and its cash balance, which sits at £12.1m. The group’s customer satisfaction scores on key review platforms averaged 4.76 out of five in 2024, and the group said improvements have already made year to date in 2025, thanks to an investment in staff training. Retention figures grew from 2.7 years in 2023 to three years in 2024, up 14%. Meanwhile, Zelman will step down as chief executive and become a non-executive director. Subsequently, Dino Sura, currently managing director for the brand’s UK and US sites, will take over as global chief executive, “with Zelman remaining hugely close to the brand throughout”. Zelman said: “This is an exciting time for the business and the board and I believe Dino is well equipped to take the brand to its next phase of growth globally after successfully steering the brand through the pandemic, navigating the cost of living crisis, rolling out a full refurbishment programme to match customer expectations and now onto the launch of new sites and territories.” Sura said: “I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to lead the team and take our unique offering to new audiences in the UK, and further afield. I’m lucky to have an incredibly strong leadership team in place who see the long-term vision for our business.” Sura, who has been with the business for seven years, added: “It’s no doubt a challenging time for the sector, but we’re pleased that we’ve managed to deliver strong results despite this. We continue to focus heavily on overall guest experience and our two recent new openings show that there is appetite and excitement for the brand, which we hope to bring to more locations in time. A key priority is continuing to deliver value for our customers, as everyone faces a tough time financially. We held our pricing throughout 2024 and we remain the destination for the best value lobster in London without compromising on quality, which we’re hugely proud of.” Burger & Lobster has also launched “The Claws Club”, a loyalty scheme that is currently being trialled in Brighton. The scheme offers a free whole lobster on the fifth visit, and more freebies in the run up. Burger & Lobster features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the next edition of which will be sent exclusively to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (12 September) and feature 1,163 companies. Burger & Lobster turnover of £32.3m is the 376th highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.