MOD Pizza, the Sir Charles Dunstone-backed concept, which is looking to make its UK debut next year, has appointed a former Carphone Warehouse executive as its new finance director, as it closes in on its first site here, M&C has learnt.
The group MOD, which grown to c70 sites in the US since its launch in 2008, has appointed Rob Murray, formerly group finance director at Dixons Carphone and head of finance at Carphone Warehouse Group, as its UK finance director.
M&C understands that the company hopes to have a chief executive to oversee its UK expansion by the end of the year.
It is currently working on securing its first site here, with locations in London and Milton Keynes under consideration.
Earlier this year, MOD, which is led by Scott Svenson, signed a joint venture with Dunstone’s Freston Venture vehicle. Freston has already backed the rapid rollout of Five Guys to 38 sites in the UK in just over two years
Svenson said that there is an opportunity for the brand to grow to “hundreds of stores” in the UK, as it targets the same consumer base and trading areas as Nando’s.
Talking to M&C earlier this summer, Svenson said that the company would ideally like to test the group’s model across a number of different locations over the first two years in the UK, before ramping up its expansion rate.
He said: “I think the scale and potential for MOD in the UK, is equal if not potentially greater than that of Five Guys. But only the passage of time will prove me right on that point.”
