Papa John’s has announced new multi-unit franchisees Richard McElroy and Chris Makin have signed a development deal to open nine new stores in the North West of England, with ambitious plans to create 20 more Papa John’s in the future. Long-term friends turned business partners, brought together through ‘football, children, and a love of good times’ (including great pizza!), are already on track to open six new Papa John’s before Christmas, creating more than 150 new jobs before the end of 2021. The first store to open will be Middleton in Manchester.
Richard McElrory confirms: “I’ve worked in hospitality all my life and Papa John’s stands out as a quality brand with a superb product. My family and I first tried Papa John’s pizza while holidaying in Arizona a few years ago and we haven’t stopped talking about it since! Now, we are hungry to open our own stores and it’s exciting making this happen around Manchester, in areas we know and live.
“We are recruiting locally, and our goal is to build an infrastructure of a size and scale which provides employment opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds in roles in HR, operations, customer service, plus our all-important delivery drivers.
“We have huge confidence in the Papa John’s leadership team to support us as we grow. The constant pipeline of new and innovative menu choices is a is a recipe for success. It means the brand is relevant and continues to increase in popularity. We’ve been blown away by the quality of the vegan range for example and will be proud to be delivering the treat of Papa John’s great pizza made with only the freshest, finest ingredients to the communities we serve very soon.”
Both Richard and Chris are experienced business professionals. Richard has a proven track record in the food and hospitality industry spending the majority of his career with Whitbread where he held a number of senior operational roles across Premier Inn, Costa and latterly as the National Operations Director for their restaurant division across 450 sites. His last role was with Morrisons as a Category Director for their Food Services business. Chris is an entrepreneur with many years of experience growing and developing businesses predominantly in manufacturing, specialising in plastic fabrication and extrusion.
Justin Gilbert Director of Business Development Papa John’s UK confirms: “Richard and Chris’ wealth of business experience and appetite for growth will help drive the successful development of their stores. They are both equally invested in contributing to the expansion of the Papa John’s brand and we welcome their knowledge and passion to take advantage of the opportunities that running a multi-unit Papa John’s franchise can offer, while our dedicated team supports them through their journey.”
For those interested in running a high street Papa John’s franchise or one of our non-traditional venues, we offer incentives plus world-class support, comprehensive training, and national marketing. As a franchisor, the Company supplies all the assistance needed to get your successful Papa John’s up and running.
For further information please see: www.papajohns.co.uk/franchise
