Waitrose is to try its luck with new franchised stores in South Africa, Australia and the Far East.
The supermarket chain has begun talks with potential partners about franchising after a successful export business to these regions.
Waitrose already has two stores in Dubai in partnership with Spinneys, a Dubai-based retailer. It opened its first franchised store in Bahrain last week, as well as a company-owned shop in the Channel Islands – in St Saviour, Jersey – the first of five stores that it is opening on the islands.
Nigel Keen, the head of development at Waitrose, said: “In many areas where there is an expat population there is an understanding of our brand. The export of our products to many countries has shown that our brand could be successful.