During a recent dinner at Alyn Williams’ new restaurant at The Westbury Hotel, I noticed he’d badged it with his own brand identity - a modern ‘AW’ rendered in a slender sans-serif – presumably to build recognition around a name that is not known to most.  

This trend for chefs to create personal brands is not particularly new, as it’s an obvious way in which they can turn recipes into revenue by building an edible empire. Jamie Oliver is the obvious poster ‘geezer’ for these food franchises, as he cooks up shows, campaigns and publications at an astonishing rate. Brand Oliver is now worth millions, so it’s no wonder other chefs want a piece of the pie.

However, unlike Alyn, Jamie has always been more about dive bars than Michelin stars, and has built his brand around no-nonsense food that appeals to millions of everyday folk. It can be much harder to turn fine dining into a franchise, as Gordon Ramsey’s rocky road has shown, so I’ll be watching closely to see what brand Alyn serves up next.

Tim Gosman, London