Mowgli secures Cheshire site with more openings planned

11-Sep-2020 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 13:02 GMT

Indian street food group Mowgli plans to open two more restaurants before Christmas, and is 'looking to close in' on additional sites across the UK to launch in 2021.

Speaking to BigHospitality's sister site MCA, founder Nisha Katona says that as well as its Bristol Corn Exchange restaurant, which was originally scheduled for the first half of this year and is now due to open in November (subject to planning), a further Mowgli site is expected to launch in the Cheshire area by December.

“When I started Mowgli I took an attitude of domestic husbandry to Mowgli’s financial health and so we’ve always had good headroom. Because of that we were fine in lockdown and yes we are building,” she says.

“We intend to open two more restaurants before Christmas, one in Bristol and the second in the Cheshire area."

Katona, a former barrister, launched Mowgli in Liverpool in 2014.

The group has already opened one new restaurant since Coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased back in July, in Leeds.

Mowgli currently operates 11 restaurants in total across the country in cities including Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham.

“On 4 July we opened our brand-new restaurant in Leeds, and so post-lockdown we’d be opening three more restaurants in 2020 and we can do that quite comfortably,” adds Katona.

“I really thank heavens that we have the capacity to do that."

Alongside the confirmed sites in Bristol and Cheshire, Katona says that the group is 'looking to close in' on sites in cities including Cheltenham, Glasgow and Brighton for next year.

“There are some great land deals to be had, and with every Mowgli we open we create 60 jobs, there is no greater motivation to grow but grow sensibly.”

Mowgli has been on the expansion trail since securing a £3.45m backing from private equity company Foresight Group in 2017.

Back in June Katona announced that Mowgli's planned opening in Preston would no longer be going ahead, and that she was she was 'considering her position' regarding the opening of a site Edinburgh - originally set to be the group's first Scottish location.

At the time she said that she would only look to work with 'collaborative and circumspect' landlords in the future.

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