Kevin Murphy, owner of the Murphy Group of Restaurants charts his own course for success on Prince Edward Island

Company of The Year, Regional, Eastern Canada

It’s no secret the last two years have translated to a glaring red mark on the financial statements of most businesses. Well, almost every business. Defying all odds — and statistics disseminated on solemn newscasts for two years — Prince Edward Island’s Murphy Group of Restaurants came out of the slump with increased sales, a positive outlook for the future and the renewed loyalty of locals and tourists who found something special about the company’s take on homey charm.

Comprised of 13 different restaurants on the Island (11 in Charlottetown alone), including casual chain eatries, upscale restos and two hotels, The Murphy Group was built with ambitious versatility and dedication to preserving a unique, down-home appeal. When it comes to the company’s financial statements, the news is good: in 2009, sales were up six per cent, and, in 2010, sales climbed another 4.5 per cent. “Another big accomplishment for us was the improvement of gross profit by three per cent,” explains owner, Kevin Murphy. It seems like a shocking feat in the current financial climate, so how did it happen?

Company of The Year

It’s been a busy day. Stanley Ma, president and CEO of the multi-concept MTY Group, has just flown in from head office in  Montreal to be greeted by a crippling traffic jam before arriving at his new Thai Express/Country Style co-branded unit on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto, only to find firemen attending to a gas leak just outside the front door. He has only an hour to meet and greet his franchisee, smile for the camera and sit for an interview. He apologizes, greets everyone, and calmly gets down to business without missing a beat.

These are the hallmarks of an astute business sense that began in Canada about 30 years ago, when Ma opened the single-unit Polynesian/Chinese restaurant, Le Paradis du Pacifique in Montreal, nearly 10 years after emigrating from China. Before long, the brand’s entrepreneurial spirit flourished with the launch of the quick-service concept Tiki-Ming in 1983. By 1995 the growing conglomerate had gone public with its first listing on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

Foodservice operators fight for their slice of the market in a sluggish economy

Life used to be easier — simpler. Ten years ago, everyone worked hard and played hard, resting on Sunday as the world slowed down to enjoy family and friends. Now, in the high-speed rat race that has become our lives, everyone’s fighting to keep ahead of technology and the rapidly changing business landscape with a sense of urgency that’s only grown amidst the recessionary woes of 2009. It’s not about grabbing your piece of the pie anymore, but fighting for the last crumb as consumers pinch pennies, saving for yet another rainy day.

Cutting into the numbers, segment by segment

Over the course of the past 18 months, Canadians have certainly had their fair share of pie. Unfortunately, that pie has been in chart form, usually explaining the latest in a calamitous series of economic forecasts and prognostications. However, while many of those estimations have proven to be guilty of pie-in-the-sky thinking, the restaurant industry has finally been handed some encouraging news.