IRO Sushi has partnered with a leading high street bank to finance joint-venture franchised stores as it looks to accelerate its UK expansion strategy.
Through the new partnership, chefs and other hospitality executives would be able to access finance for the capital required to open a joint venture with IRO Sushi at “highly favourable rates”, the sushi brand said.
The programme, which is primarily designed for those investing in franchising for the first time, will see franchisees receiving hands-on operational support and a dedicated training scheme to equip them with the skills to scale effectively.
When the franchisee has the capital to take full ownership, IRO Sushi will sell its share to the franchisee at the original valuation.
Over recent years, the sushi chain has tested this approach outside a formalised offer. One of its leading franchisees, Sultan Thakur, opened his first joint venture location in Purley in 2023 and has since scaled to operate five IRO Sushi locations across the UK. Today, Thakur sits on IRO Sushi’s operational board as operations director.
The group believes this evolved franchisee recruitment programme will be “critical for driving new enquiries and supporting its ambitious pipeline”.
By 2030, IRO Sushi is aiming to scale up to 100 sites. The business, which was founded in 2014 and serves fresh, made-to-order sushi, currently operates more than 30 quick-service restaurants across the UK.
“A little over a decade ago, I was in a sushi kitchen, knowing that I wanted to move beyond the kitchen and into business ownership but without the skills or means to do so,” said IRO Sushi founder and CEO Chhong Sherpa.
”I decided to take a risk, putting all of my available capital into our first store and have since been able to scale the brand. But, for many in the kitchen – particularly within today’s business landscape – the barriers in place of entrepreneurship are often too significant to overcome.
“At IRO Sushi, we want to change that. We want to be the home of the next generation of skilled and ambitious chefs and hospitality executives who, like us, are passionate about serving high-quality, Japanese food across the UK.”
He added: ”Now, with our evolved franchisee programme, we want to help them channel their skills to scale franchised businesses of their own and be part of the UK’s sushi revolution.”
No comments yet