Itsu sees ‘solid’ growth in 2024 as it reports record full-year revenue of £161m, extends banking facilities to support expansion: Itsu, the healthy Asian food brand, has seen “solid” growth in 2024 as it reported group turnover increased to a record £161m for the year ending 31 December 2023 (2022: £101.2m) “with healthy sales growth across both restaurant and grocery businesses”. Group Ebitda was up 24% to £8.1m compared with last year, “despite rising costs and ongoing investment in people, healthier innovation and future growth”. Restaurant sales in 2023 grew to £116m. More than a quarter of the estate broke individual sales records, including Aldgate, St Mary Axe, The Strand and Piccadilly in Central London, Gatwick and Heathrow airports and suburban locations such as Wimbledon in south west London. Itsu’s grocery business delivered double-digit sales growth for its tenth consecutive year. A further 27 new products launched across chilled, ambient and frozen categories throughout the year. In July 2024, Itsu completed an upsizing of existing cash facilities to £30m with baking partner HSBC, “setting the business up to deliver ambitious growth plans”. Chief financial officer Greg Thorp said: “2023 delivered double-digit sales growth for the Itsu group with record results across multiple categories, channels and territories. Itsu [grocery] revenue exceeded £50m for the first time, with sales up 24% versus 2022. Meanwhile like-for-like restaurant sales were up 18% in the City of London as workers re-established office routines. Holding back on price increases and investing in building transactions through menu bundles and in-app promotions was key to healthy sales growth.” The Itsu app is on track to hit 750,000 downloads by the end of 2024. In-app payments accounted for nearly 10% of transactions across restaurants last month. Neil Miller, chief customer officer of restaurants, recently confirmed that new health-centric brand partnerships are due to be announced this autumn. Itsu [grocery] continues to see solid year-on-year growth in core ranges, alongside strong first-half 2024 sales for new products. European sales were up 128% in 2023 and are set to double again in 2024. The latest product innovation goes live in food-to-go chillers this October, alongside the biggest marketing campaign in the company’s history across rail, tube, roadside and digital channels. Chief executive Julian Metcalfe said: “Never before have customers around the world so wanted, and needed, healthier convenient food at home, and when out and about. This autumn, we’re opening two sites in London’s Oxford Street – Itsu West One (opening Friday, 13 September) and Itsu Marble Arch. Over the last 12 months, we’ve also signed iconic sites in London’s Bishopsgate, Manchester’s Trafford Centre, Windsor, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and dozens more. The [grocery] dishes you’ll see in supermarket chillers this autumn are the result of decades of learning. Itsu has been innovating and evolving for 20 years; there’s so much more to do, we’re only just beginning.” In July, Itsu, which is understood to have 15 sites in its immediate pipeline, reiterated its ambition to double its existing 80-strong UK estate. Itsu features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club members and features 958 companies. Itsu’s turnover of £161m is the 71st highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

 

Sponsored message – Airship and Toggle’s Mega Marketing Masterclass returns with free places for operators: Following demand after last year’s event in Manchester, sector CRM specialist Airship and gifting platform Toggle are returning with their Mega Marketing Masterclass, this time at Hijingo London on Tuesday, 10 September. Places are free for operators and the agenda includes industry marketing experts James Mobbs, Jack Edge, Anna Viera and Alan Armstrong. The day will be full of insight and offer the chance to network with marketing peers. In addition, the Airship and Toggle customer success team will be on hand for live support, to talk through the recent platform upgrades and help customers activate journeys and campaigns. At the end of the day, delegates will be treated to a game of bingo in true Hijingo style. To register, click here. If you have a sponsored story you would like to see featured in this newsletter position, email paul.charity@propelinfo.com.

 

Final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2024 open for bookings with free places for operators, TV personality Ben Fogle to speak: The final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2024 has opened for bookings. The full-day conference – titled “new directions, new ideas” – takes place on Wednesday, 30 October at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London Kensington. Among the speakers will be Ben Fogle, the TV personality who has summited Everest, raced to the South Pole and rowed the Atlantic. He will talk about overcoming adversity, teamwork and leadership. For the full speaker schedule, click here. Operators can book up to three free places per company while Premium Club members who are operators can book up to four free places. To book, email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

 

Premium Club members to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database on Friday: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club members on Friday (6 September). The database will show the details of 268 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. It will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club members will also receive a 11,881-word report on the 268 new additions to the database. The database is now segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. New openings in the cafe bakery sector include an opening from Chulo’s, the Scottish stuffed cookie concept; Crumb, the New-York inspired plant-based cookie concept making its London debut; and Baked In Brick, opening its fourth bakery concept site. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Talent and Training Conference (1 October), Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

 

Tipjar awarded £500,000 grant to launch product allowing hospitality workers to save their tips: Cashless tipping platform Tipjar has been awarded a UK Smart Grant of £500,000 to launch its “spend and save” product. The feature means employees can now hit the pause button on their tip payouts. Instead of getting their tips right away, they can stash them in a savings pot and watch it grow, with interest included. When employees are ready to spend their tips, they can do it with their own Tipjar card and receive discounts at thousands of high-street venues. Tipjar founder James Brown said: “Tipjar has come so far in just five years, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved for tipped workers. With the launch of our ‘spend and save' product, we’re entering an exciting new phase. It’s always been my vision for workers to maximise their tips, and this new feature is a crucial step in making that a reality.” Tommy Giraux, head of project at Honest Burger, which uses Tipjar, added: “The ability to save tips within the app and earn interest has been a long-requested feature, and we’re thrilled it’s now becoming a reality. These updates will provide greater financial flexibility and added value for our employees.”

 

Government urged to put food security at heart of plans for growth: The government is being urged to put food security at the centre of its strategy to boost the UK’s economic growth. The Evening Standard reported that the Policy Exchange think tank has called for a national food security strategy that encompasses the entire food ecosystem beyond farming, as it released a report on the issue backed by a cross-party group of MPs and peers. It comes after years of high food price inflation and supply chains disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the impacts of climate change. Polling of food and drink manufacturers, carried out on behalf of the think tank, found that more than half (53%) think mitigating supply chain risks is a significant concern for their business. The survey by the Food and Drink Federation trade body showed the top three actions businesses are taking to mitigate that risk include diversifying suppliers (68%), adapting or simplifying supply chains (50%) or investing in product innovation (38%). The survey found 56% of large suppliers are increasing stockpiles while 54% of small and medium-sized enterprises are increasing the share of UK inputs in their supply chain. It said previous food security initiatives have focused too narrowly on agriculture and that plans should include all areas of the food ecosystem in order to keep products on shelves and prices down. Investment in the food and drink manufacturing sector has dropped by 30% since 2019, the report said, adding that this is despite an estimated industry turnover of £142bn and exports valued at more than £24bn. In comparison, UK manufacturing excluding food and drink saw investment rise by 5% over the same period, the paper said.

 

Scottish government confirms ‘latte levy’ will apply to fast food restaurants as well as coffee shops: The Scottish government has confirmed its new “latte levy” will apply to fast food restaurants as well as coffee shops. The new scheme, which comes into force next year in Scotland, will see a minimum levy of 25p added to any drink served in a disposable cup – although retailers can charge more. A Scottish government spokesman confirmed to the Scottish Sun that the levy would apply to drinks in fast food outlets, adding: “The charge would be applied to all single-use disposable beverage cups, regardless of composition or type of drink the cup is intended to be used for. The charge would be intended to apply to cups for hot and cold drinks being purchased.” A consultation document suggests a limited number of exemptions, such as vending machines and “settings where using a reusable cup may not be practical”. This could include football stadiums and event spaces and festivals, “where single-use cups are required for safety reasons”. Exemptions are also likely for “settings where it may not be possible to clean a reusable cup, and cross-border transport”.

 

Job of the day: COREcruitment is working with a fast-growing luxury private members’ club in west London that is looking to hire an experienced membership director. A COREcruitment spokesperson said: “Responsibilities will include developing and executing a comprehensive membership strategy to attract, engage, and retain members; analysing membership data and generating reports to track metrics, membership trends, and the effectiveness of member services initiatives; and collaborating with the executive team to establish and manage the departmental budget.” The salary is up to £100,000. For more information, email david@corecruitment.com.

 

Black Sheep Coffee offers up its entire UK site pipeline to franchisees, signs agreements in US: Speciality coffee shop operator Black Sheep Coffee, which opened its 100th site in June, has told Propel it is “doubling down on growth” by offering up its entire UK site pipeline to franchisees. It comes as the business, which is backed by NBA player Kristaps Porzingis and was founded in 2013 by former university flatmates Gabriel Shohet and Eirik Holth, said it has doubled system sales every year for the last five years. Holth said: “Many of our peers went into a company voluntary arrangement during covid and landlords were thrilled to find someone who was willing and able to sign new leases. We always believed in the long-term resilience of the UK retail market, and so for us it was a perfect time to acquire flagship locations that were historically difficult to get our hands on and to acquire them at discounted rents – so we decided to double down on growth and sign a ton of leases on incredible terms.” The business now has more than 100 shops worldwide, with 26 pipeline locations on “attractive covid-adjusted lease terms that are ready to open”. Shohet said: “We thought, rather than eat the entire cake, why not share the upside with franchise partners and share our vision for making Black Sheep a first-class global brand? So today, we’re doing exactly that and allowing prospective franchisees to pick any site from our own pipeline and subletting to the best franchisees in the UK on exactly mirrored terms as our headleases.” The company said there are currently 18 shops still available from its pipeline. Once a prospective franchisee passes their due diligence checks, they proceed on a first-come-first-serve basis, with people paying £5,000 to reserve locations.” In July, Black Sheep made its debut in the US, with several more in the pipeline, including a double-lane drive-thru/drive-to venue. Shohet said: “We’ve signed franchise agreements in the US, and we are looking for more. We’re always looking for the best franchisees in every market we enter, so right now there is a special focus on Texas and Florida.” The company also recently opened its first airport site in Scotland, at Edinburgh airport.

Itsu – getting lfl growth through transactions absolutely key for us, big opportunity to move dial on frequency: Greg Thorp, chief financial officer at Itsu, the healthy Asian food brand, has told Propel that the business is focusing on transaction growth and is keen to hold prices “very low”. He said: “We’ve had like-for-like sales growth this year. It is not as high as 2023, but soft comparatives with 2022 make that understandable. We don’t want to do that through price – we want to do that through customer growth, through transaction growth. What we are seeing through the middle of the year and now is transaction growth, where we’re actually holding price very low. For us, affordability is important. Getting like-for-like growth through transactions is absolutely key for us. The first half of the year has definitely been challenging. I’ve seen many other trading updates from some very big companies talk about transaction decline, so it’s encouraging for us to see we’re a little ahead of that, and we’re seeing some transaction growth coming through the summer and as we move into the autumn. But again, we’re going to take that line of not trying to pump it through price.” On trading in the City, Thorp said: “On the one hand, it doesn’t get back to pre-covid levels, but on the other, we’ve got shops in the City that are breaking sales records from pre-covid. We think we’ve got people who are coming in three to four days a week, rather than maybe two to three days a week from a year or so ago. That allows us to get sales numbers consistent with 2019, and in some cases, higher. But there are little pockets that haven’t recovered to pre-covid levels and maybe won’t.” Itsu chief customer officer Neil Miller told Propel the company did a big review at the end of last year of its app performance, with a new app launched in March. He said: “The frequency outside of the City, of our customers into our restaurants, is not as high as you’d expect because of our proposition. There’s a big opportunity to move the dial on frequency, and so the loyalty scheme became more generous. We had more rewards earlier on in the cycle to encourage that multi trip, and that’s really, really working for us, and there’s been a real movement now in terms of the frequency. We’re also marketing the app on our grocery range and integrating it into that grocery purchase. The kiosk category is also promoting the app, and that’s where we’re getting a lot of downloads. The app is now in almost three quarters of a million customers’ hands. We’ve also introduced scanning within the kiosk environment, and that’s working really well for us, particularly on the grab and go and snack side.”

Square Burgers signs a development agreement to launch Wendy’s in Scotland: Wendy’s franchisee Square Burgers has signed a development agreement to open restaurants under the US brand in Scotland. Two years ago, the company became the first traditional franchise partner to open a Wendy’s restaurant in the UK, on the brand’s return to these shores, in Sheffield. It has since focused on expanding Wendy’s into South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, although it plans to open a site in Newcastle later this year. Wendy’s UK said: “We’re thrilled to announce that our franchise partner, Square Burgers, has just signed a development agreement to open Wendy’s restaurants in Scotland. Over the next several years, new Wendy’s restaurants will open across the country, and we can’t wait to bring our iconic square hamburgers and creamy Frosty dessert to Scottish consumers.” Last month, Wendy’s, which has opened circa 30 sites since its return to the UK in 2021, added to its drive-thru estate in the UK with an opening in Liverpool. Next Friday (13 September), the brand will open a site at Tallys End, in Barlborough, near Chesterfield. The company expects to see up to 50 restaurants in the market by year-end and said it was in a great position to continue growing the brand in the UK to 400 restaurants over time.

 

Caprinos opens 100th site with second overseas launch: Pizza franchise Caprinos Pizza has opens its 100th site with its second overseas launch. The business, co-founded by Khalil Rehman and Gul Mawaz in Didcot, Oxfordshire, in 2014, made its international debut in October last year when it opened in the DHA Lahore development in Pakistan. It has now returned to Lahore to open its landmark 100th site globally with a launch in the city’s Gulberg region. “We are beyond thrilled to announce the grand opening of our 100th outlet, in Gulberg, Lahore,” said Rehman. “This incredible achievement comes within just ten years of opening our very first branch in Didcot on October 1, 2014. We couldn’t have reached this milestone without the unwavering support of our amazing franchisees and the dedication of our incredible team. A heartfelt thank you from me and Gul to everyone who has been part of this remarkable journey. Here’s to many more years of growth and success!”

 

Rosa’s co-founder to launch Thai fried chicken concept: Saiphin Moore, the co-founder of Rosa’s Thai, is to open a new fried chicken concept called Dang’s, in London’s Spitalfields. The new concept, which will open underneath Moore’s Slurp Noodles site in Commercial Street, will specialise in Thai fried chicken – also known as Hat Yai chicken after the southern Thai city where it originated. Earlier this year, Propel revealed that Moore had opened a third site under her fledgling Slurp Noodles concept, on the former Andina site in Commercial Street.

 

Dirty Bones MD leaves to join Vapiano: Richard Downs has stepped down as managing director of US comfort food and cocktails brand Dirty Bones to join the McWin-backed Vapiano brand, as its new director of development. Downs was promoted to managing director of Dirty Bones last summer. He joined Dirty Bones at the start of 2022 as its operations director from Yumpingo, where he spent a year as its enterprise sales director. Previous to that, he was international concessions director at TRG Concessions and spent more than 11 years at the Casual Dining Group, including a stint as its director of franchising and business development. Propel revealed in June 2023 that half of the six-strong Dirty Bones business had been acquired in a pre-pack administration process for a total consideration of circa £600,000. Vapiano currently operates circa 155 sites across 32 countries, including five in the UK. Sinclair Beecham, the co-founder of Pret, was one of the group investors that backed the new owners of the Vapiano brand when it was acquired in summer 2020. The group of investors, which also included AmRest founder Henry McGovern, backed Mario C Bauer, who was Vapiano’s former head of international franchising, to restart the brand after it filed for insolvency due to liquidity problems following declining sales earlier that year.

 

Inception Group to launch new Cahoots site in Borough Yards: Inception Group, the London hospitality group, will launch its latest venue, Cahoots: Postal Office, near Borough Market next month. The second venue within the Cahoots Network will be unveiled inside an old railway arch within the Borough Yards development. Modelled on a vintage post office, the 15-strong company said that the new opening will transport guests back to 1946, with “home-brewed hooch, and cocktails featuring exotic smuggled ingredients”. The company said: “Entering through the post office shopfront, Cahoots guests will be greeted at the overflowing mail counter by a postie, keeping watch for suspicious coppers looking to bust the Cahoots Scoundrels and their latest illicit Borough cocktail operation. Guests will be directed through a postbox into an immersive sorting area where a whole new Cahoots world awaits.” It will offer seating for 80 guests or 120 standing for private events and will feature a pneumatic tube system to transport cocktails from the bar to tables. The company launched Cahoots Ticket Hall Boozer, a new 1940s-style pub, in Soho earlier this summer. Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group, said: “After the enormous success of the original Cahoots in Soho, we are very excited to be expanding the network. Borough Market feels like the perfect location for our second opening and we are very excited to be exploring another great British institution, the post office, for our most immersive venue to date.” A new report has been produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector. The report profiles the current shape of the experiential leisure market – including brands, estate size, trading type and geographical location and future trends. It provides a detailed list of UK experiential leisure companies including key staff and Companies House information. The report includes more than 180 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. The report is available for £595 plus VAT although Premium Club members can receive the report for £395 plus VAT. The report will be made available for free to existing Premium members on Tuesday, 10 September at 9am. Email: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to order a copy.

 

Heavenly Desserts opens in London’s Ealing: Artisan dessert restaurant Heavenly Desserts has opened in Ealing, west London, with a first restaurant for new franchisees Balraj and Tanya Mudhar. The father-and-daughter duo have opened an 1,800 square-foot venue at the former Ealing Mini Mall site, near Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre. It is a new direction for Balraj, who has more than 30 years of business experience owning a grocery shop and dry cleaners. “As a family, we’ve been excited by Heavenly Desserts’ fantastic dessert offering, business model and brand values since our first visit to the Hounslow restaurant,” he told whichfranchise. “This new venture means a lot to me, as not only do I get the opportunity to build another business, but I get to do so in partnership with my daughter.” Tanya added: “We see massive potential in Ealing – it’s a vibrant are with a high footfall high street, and Heavenly Desserts will be at the heart of it all.” It is an eighth site in London for Heavenly Desserts, with Croydon and Elephant & Castle to follow later this year, along with further launches in Basingstoke in Hampshire, Bedford and Merry Hill in the West Midlands. Heavenly has set a long-term target of up to 250 UK sites and is aiming to grow its 58-strong brand to 100 sites by the end of 2026.

 

Rick Stein hires new head of food: Rick Stein’s restaurant business – which operates seafood specialist restaurants in Cornwall, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and London – has hired a new head of food. Jason Wass will oversee all aspects of menu development across all ten Rick Stein restaurants, working alongside chef director Jack Stein. Wass will be responsible for sourcing ingredients, integrating innovative culinary techniques and developing new ranges for Stein’s nationwide online fishmongers. Wass previously worked at Gordon Ramsay Group as senior sous chef and Russell Norman’s Polpo as group executive chef and was most recently operations director at Upmarket Leisure (Gino D’Acampo Restaurants, Radio Rooftop London). Rick Stein said: “From the moment Jason and I first started talking, he’s shown he really understands the most important point of food in any restaurant, which is a balance between excitement, taste and creativity in dishes. It’s especially exciting to have Jason on board as we enter 2025 and prepare to celebrate our 50th anniversary – we are planning some serious celebrations for next year.” Wass added: “I’m looking forward to working closely with Jack and Rick on developing menus across the strong portfolio of restaurants. I’ve always admired the Steins’ passion for seafood with a simple but flavourful approach to cooking, and I’m eager to continue to create fantastic dishes for our customers.” As well as ten restaurants, Stein’s portfolio includes a cookery school, 40 guest rooms, self-catering properties and four shops.

 

Bao to open new restaurant and karaoke-focused City site: London operator Bao, which was founded by Shing Tat Chung, Erchen Chang and Wai Ting Chung and is backed by JKS Restaurants, is to launch a new restaurant and flagship KTV (Taiwanese “karaoke TV”) experience in the City of London. Opening on Thursday, 26 September, on the former Ekte Nordic Kitchen in Bloomberg Arcade, the new restaurant’s dining room is flanked by two private KTV rooms. One room offers a setting for up to ten people while the other can host a group of up to 22. Here, visitors can take their pick from a catalogue of more than 300,000 songs, and each room is designed with banquette seating along each side, complete with tables for cocktails and snacks, including mini bao platters. “We’re really excited to open Bao City, where we can realise our dream of recreating a Taiwanese karaoke bar right in the centre of the city’s financial district,” said Chang. “The space feels very different to our other Bao restaurants, inspired by the neon-lit Taiwan of the 1980s and 1990s that I grew up in.” The first permanent Bao restaurant opened in Soho in April 2015, following a successful stall at Netil Market in Hackney. Further sites have since been launched in Borough Market, King’s Cross, Shoreditch, Marylebone and Battersea. Restaurant Property and Bruce Gillingham Pollard acted on the Bloomberg Arcade deal.

 

Redemption Roasters set to leave production facility: The world’s first prison-based coffee company, Redemption Roasters, is being forced to find a new home after bosses revoked its contract at a prison near Watford. The company has had a production facility at HMP The Mount in Bovingdon since March 2020, where it roasts coffee beans to be brewed in its 11 cafes across London. The start-up trains inmates at the prison roastery to later prepare them for barista roles at its coffee shops, where 23% of staff are ex-offenders. The FT reported that Redemption Roasters has claimed it will be forced to leave The Mount in February 2025 after prison bosses tried to quadruple its fee to produce coffee at the site. When the roasters reportedly questioned the sharp rise, its contract at The Mount was terminated in early July. Redemption Roasters co-founder Ted Rosner said the prison had called itself “the prison of opportunity” in its dedication to rehabilitating inmates, but claimed the recent decision seemed to “violate that principle”. He claimed the business had previously offered to pay higher fees in January to continue producing there but were rebuffed by managers. A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed Redemption Roasters’ contract had been terminated for February 2025, but said the decision followed a review of commercial partnerships at the prison. Redemption Roasters also runs nine barista academies at other prisons that will not be affected by the change.

 

Stack unveils plans for Manchester site: Leisure venue concept Stack has unveiled its plans for a new entertainment hub in Manchester. The business is to develop the former Hatch site beneath the Oxford Road flyover, creating 160 jobs. Stack Manchester will feature a mix of street food, bars and live entertainment, housed in repurposed shipping containers over two levels. The proposed development has been designed with a gateway arch entrance from Oxford Road, leading to a plaza surrounded by street food vendors and bars with pavement seating and a large stage. In addition, the development will include two new outward-facing retail units and a dual-aspect coffee shop. Former traders from Hatch will be given priority during the selection process. Neill Winch, chief executive of Stack, said: “We believe this site is the perfect fit for our concept, and we’re excited to bring our blend of street food, bars and live entertainment to Manchester. Stack currently operates three sites – Seaburn in Sunderland, Lincoln, and St James Stack in Newcastle, created in partnership with Newcastle United FC. Other projects in the pipeline include a second site in Newcastle as well as venues in Middlesbrough, Whitley Bay, Durham, Bishop Auckland, Carlisle, Northampton, Leeds, Wigan and Sheffield.

 

David Lloyd acquires Shrewsbury health and fitness centre: Health and leisure business David Lloyd has acquired a site in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The company has bought The Shrewsbury Club from Mosaic Group for its 133rd site. The property in Sundorne Road offers a range of fitness, spa and wellness facilities. Its existing 65 employees have joined David Lloyd’s 11,000-plus team members. Dave Courteen, managing director of the Mosaic Group, added: “On a personal level, The Shrewsbury Club has been a big part of my life, and I’ve loved every moment of my involvement here over the last 13 years. But, as a group, we believe this decision is in the best interests of the club, and so it’s the right one. We'll look back with pride that we took the club on when it was in administration, with less than 2,000 members and not the best reputation in the town, and we are handing it on as a flourishing business with 6,000 members, significantly-enhanced facilities, and – we believe – a reputation as a valuable asset to life in Shrewsbury.”

 

Snowflake opens in Sheffield: London premium gelato brand Snowflake has opened a new kiosk in Sheffield. It has opened in the Upper Arcade at the Meadowhall shopping centre. It is Snowflake’s second location outside of the capital and eighth in the UK overall – with two others overseas in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Founder Asad Khan told Propel last year that Snowflake is aiming to grow to 160 sites in the next five years, with a strategy for international expansion focused on the Middle East and Far East before turning its attention to Canada and the US.

 

Irish-Scottish Neapolitan pizza concept opens fifth site: Irish-Scottish Neapolitan pizza concept Sano Pizza has opened its fifth site. It has opened at Glasgow’s Merchant City for its second site in the Scottish city, joining its Finnieston location. Sano Pizza also has three locations in the Republic of Ireland – two in Dublin and one in Cork. The concept was founded in 2018 after twin brothers Tony and Raymond McHugh travelled to Naples, opening their first restaurant in Dublin’s Temple Bar. Raymond MacHugh said: “Merchant City is an exciting place to be right now, and we jumped at the chance to open our second Glasgow venue here. My brother and I have drawn on our experience running Dukes Bar in Glasgow to create a great selection of cocktails for Sano, as well as serving high-quality draft and bottled beer.” Also opening at Merchant City this month is a second site for vodka and fast-food concept, Vodka Wodka, which has taken over the former Beer Cafe site. Vodka Wodka’s other site opened in Glasgow’s Ashton Lane in 2001. Fraser McIlwraith, the concept’s founding director, said: “Vodka Wodka has gone from strength to strength over the years, and the decision to expand is something we have considered for a long time. We are confident that we have not only found a great location that embodies what Vodka Wodka truly is, but we know that we have also perfected the business model and can replicate it successfully in a new area.” The Beer Cafe, which had a selection of more than 100 beers, closed in January after more than 20 years.

 

Coffer Corporate Leisure goes independent and rebrands as Portland Leisure Advisers: Coffer Corporate Leisure, the sector advisory firm, has rebranded as Portland Leisure Advisers as it becomes independent from parent company, the Coffer Group. Mark Sheehan, of Portland Leisure Advisers, said: “While we are no longer part of Coffer Group, we will retain our close working relationship with Davis Coffer Lyons. The name and website are new, but we will continue to offer the same specialist investment advice to the leisure and alternative sectors.”

 

Boulangerie Pierre Alix to double up in London: Family-run, independent café and bakery concept Boulangerie Pierre Alix is to open its second site in London. The business has secured the former Fish & Skewers site in Holloway Road, Islington. The concept, which is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Pierre and Florence Alix, opened its first site, in Muswell Hill Broadway, in July 2022. Emma Wright, of CDG Leisure, acted for the landlord on the Holloway Road deal.