Our local market is 2,000 restaurants, vs 200,000 or so in the US. It's a great market to learn and improve, but we want a place with a larger customer base. We aren't abandoning our local market, far from it, but want to be in a place with space for us to grow.
The United States is also much much bigger. It's ~130 times the land area of the Republic of Ireland. The distance between New York and San Francisco is ~4200 km. That's ~1700 km further than the distance from Dublin to Moscow. More like Dublin to Uralsk, Kazakhstan.
I suppose my point is that the US is not a local market in the same way Ireland is. You can get up in the morning, drive all day, and still not be at the other side of Texas even if you don't stop to talk to restaurant owners.
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Our local market is 2,000 restaurants, vs 200,000 or so in the US. It's a great market to learn and improve, but we want a place with a larger customer base. We aren't abandoning our local market, far from it, but want to be in a place with space for us to grow.
The United States is also much much bigger. It's ~130 times the land area of the Republic of Ireland. The distance between New York and San Francisco is ~4200 km. That's ~1700 km further than the distance from Dublin to Moscow. More like Dublin to Uralsk, Kazakhstan.
I suppose my point is that the US is not a local market in the same way Ireland is. You can get up in the morning, drive all day, and still not be at the other side of Texas even if you don't stop to talk to restaurant owners.
What about the UK? Much closer, simpler business structure to work there, abundance of capital.