Papa Johns UK appoints former Itsu property boss as new property director

Papa Johns UK has appointed Vish Talreja as its new property and development director.

Talreja will be responsible for the acquisition and development of new restaurant sites and distribution facilities, as well as the optimisation of the existing estate across the UK.

He will also be responsible for building a future property pipeline to support the pizza chain’s long-term growth ambitions. Papa Johns currently operates more than 450 restaurants across the UK.

Talreja previously spent eight years as property director at Itsu, where he played a major role in taking the East Asian-inspired food chain’s estate strategy from a London-centric footprint to a national UK expansion.

He was also key in supporting the Five Guys leadership team in winning the tender for Five Guys UK’s first airport site at Heathrow Terminal 5 and has held previous roles at KFC owner Yum Brands, Kout Food Group, Starbucks UK franchisee Queensway, and Yo Sushi.

“Vish brings exactly the blend of strategic property expertise and commercial insight we need as we build on the momentum of the last year,” said Papa Johns UK & Europe MD Grant Reed. “His track record of transforming estate strategy at a national level speaks for itself, and we are excited to have him on board as we look to the next phase of growth.”

Talreja added: “Papa Johns is at a genuinely exciting point, and I am looking forward to working with Grant and the team to build and deliver a property strategy that supports the business’s growth ambitions across the UK. There’s real headroom in this market, and I’m excited to get started.”