Late Night Entrepreneurs

The late night kebab shop is an intriguing place. On the one hand, a messy, perhaps even violent night is pretty much assured, especially if you’re in a prime city centre location. But the rewards for enduring such undoubted inconvenience must be relatively high. After all, how else would so many such places stay in business?

News that one of Britain’s most well known fast food brands, Greggs, are to attempt a foray into the late night market shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, therefore. It seems their branch on Oxford Road, one of the main late night thoroughfares in town, is applying for a license allowing them to open until 4.30am. A good thing, no doubt, for many of the student types who frequent the area and have penchant for a steak bake.



It makes me wonder therefore which areas of this potentially lucrative market are being under-exploited. After all, what better a captive audience than a very drunk, very hungry one with crumpled ten pound notes falling out of their pockets? Captive audience probably isn’t the right expression there but without anything more than the neon lights of a kebab shop to tempt them currently, maybe a unique, creative alternative would turn them into a captive audience. The only thing is, what? What do you need at 3am when you’ve had...ahem...a few drinks, other than some greasy food?