The Japanese premium restaurant group, which was acquired by specialist investor McWin Capital Partners in a deal that valued the business at €80m (£68m) last month, currently operates a total of 27 restaurants internationally including 12 in Denmark, all based in Copenhagen; and three in Berlin, Germany.
However, the UK now represents Sticks’n’Sushi’s largest market in terms of turnover. The brand opened its first restaurant here in Wimbledon in 2012 and now has as estate of 12 sites across London, Cambridge and Oxford, with a 13th, in Richmond, scheduled to open in May.
Stuart Blair, director of debt finance at OakNorth, believes the group is ‘primed’ for further growth.
“Given the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, it is no surprise that many hospitality businesses have struggled over the last 18 months. However, Sticks n Sushi is a business that is more than bucking this trend,” he says.
“It has a strong brand presence, and a model focussed on high quality food production that has stood the test of time.
“Over three decades, it has grown to 27 individually designed restaurants, and it has never had to shut one down, demonstrating its sensible and smart location selection, as well as the clear demand for its offering.”
Sticks'n'Sushi was founded in Denmark in 1994 by Thor Andersen, Kim Rahbek Hansen and Jens Rahbek Hansen.
The group’s current CEO, Andreas Karlsson, joined in 2011 as its operations director and has led the business since 2019.
“Our continued growth is really exciting,” he says.
“Over the years, we’ve built a loyal customer base who continue to choose us because of the quality of food we serve, and the quality of service we provide. We have identified great locations for several new restaurants in the coming years, and with the support of McWin and OakNorth, we will be able to take advantage of this.
“We’re incredibly grateful for both of their support and the commercial and collaborative nature in which they operate – it genuinely feels like a partnership and a relationship that will help make us an even stronger business for years to come.”