The restaurant group behind the Franco Manca pizzeria chain is set to open two outlets in Athens after securing Greece as its first overseas franchise territory.
Fulham Shore, which has 56 Franco Mancas in the UK, is understood to have signed a franchise deal with a business headed by James Ravano, a Greek who spent 20 years working for the PizzaExpress and Zizzi chains.
Ravano, who also founded Chillbox, a frozen Greek yoghurt business, while living in Britain, has returned to Greece, where he runs Soho Burger, a predominantly delivery operation.
He has set up a separate business that is aiming to open at least 25 Franco Manca restaurants. The first two sites are in Athens, one with a view of the Acropolis, with further openings planned for Thessaloniki, Patras and Crete.
Fulham Shore also runs 20 restaurants in the UK under The Real Greek brand, but David Page, the group’s chairman, has previously ruled out franchising the concept in Greece in a “coals to Newcastle” move. “That would be pushing it,” he said.
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The company, which recently outlined plans for a further 150 UK sites “over the medium term”, is also believed to be in talks with potential franchise partners for Franco Manca in territories including Portugal, Dubai, Switzerland and Spain.
Page, 69, a former boss of both PizzaExpress and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, set up Fulham Shore in 2011 as a quoted shell and in 2015 acquired Franco Manca for £27.5 million when it had ten restaurants. Today it has 76 outlets.
The international interest follows strong trading by Franco Manca, which specialises in sourdough pizzas. It has bounced back from the pandemic, recently reporting a 33 per cent jump in group revenues compared with 2019.
Its only previous international presence was on the Italian island of Salina, north of Sicily. Giuseppe Mascoli, the founder of Franco Manca, opened a branch there to trade during the busy summer months, but he has since ceased trading.
