Japes gears up for UK rollout

The deep dish pizza concept founded by Aleksandar and Jovana Aleksic currently operates two London venues in Soho and Greenwich. It will open a site in south west London later this year following what it says has been strong trading at its two restaurants, with turnover at the Soho location so far up 25% against 2022 figures.

Japes has entered into a partnership with food franchising specialist Seeds Consulting, which has been tasked with building the Japes franchise model and spearheading business development,

“A strong start in Greenwich has opened our eyes about the potential that our brand has in London and further afield. Our newly introduced London-style pizza was very well received by our loyal customers, thus further increasing their number of visits and positively impacting our brand reputation and turnover,” says Aleksandar Aleksic.

“As a result, we looked at the franchise model and found our brand really suited to it, as we have a high margin products, our operation is totally de-skilled and our restaurants are relatively cheap to build.  

“We are not lacking expressions of interest but our philosophy is about being selective with both franchise partners and properties.”

Seeds Consulting has been retained by Japes to build the Japes franchise model, with an initial focus on the UK.

“It is exciting to represent such a compelling opportunity in the established food franchise pizza market,” says Seeds Consulting MD Matteo Frigeri.

“Japes’ pizza is really addictive, customers just love it, because it is different and delicious. I can see all franchise groups that do not have pizza in their portfolio want this as the numbers stack up, landlords are keen, franchisor support is there and the potential market is immense.”