Duo bring taste of India to London

Two Manchester-based consultancies, Richard Chadwick Associates and Purple Penguin, have cooked up the retail design and identity for Tiffinbites, an Indian fast-food brand that opened in London yesterday.

The brainchild of ex-Marks & Spencer employees Jamal Hirani and Jonathan Marks, the concept updates the traditional Indian lunchtime tiffin box for the UK market. ‘It’s a modern British Asian approach, with contemporary images of India,’ says Hirani.

Tiffinbites plans to open ten further outlets this year – the next scheduled for London’s The Strand in two or three weeks – and has set its sights on a 52-strong nationwide chain within three years.

‘We started with the brand idea and developed [with Purple Penguin] how it should look – the colours, values, tone of voice and so on. It wasn’t a matter of doing a shop-fit and then branding it,’ explains Hirani.

The interiors scheme, created by Richard Chadwick Associates, is poised for a ‘flat-pack roll out across the piece’, says Hirani.

Purple Penguin has designed elements such as the Tiffinbites logo, menu boards and packaging graphics. The classic Indian tiffin box – with three round containers slotting into each other – has been replicated in polypropylene.

The groups were appointed in July 2002 after a six-way pitch.