James Rushton, formerly of PizzaExpress and EAT, is to aid the UK launch and roll out of Which Wich, the US-based sandwich concept, as its head of operations.
Rushton joins the company, which plans to make its UK debut in London later this year, after a year and a half as head of operations at rival US sandwich chain’s UK business.
He previously spent three and a half year as director of operations at MW Eat, operator of the Masala Zone brand.
Previous to that he was an operations manager at PizzaExpress and had stints as an area manager ay JD Wetherspoon and EAT.
The Potbelly master franchisee in the UK, Buraq Retail (Potbelly) Ltd, a company backed by Sheikh Holdings, opened its first, and so far only, site at Westfield Stratford City in May 2015.
Kevin Todd, the former Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) managing director and current chairman of the Big Easy, is also advising on the UK launch of Which Wich.
Todd, who spent 25 years at M&B, is aiding brothers Rami and Nader Awada of AAA Investment House Group, who earlier this year signed a master franchise agreement to launch Which Wich in the UK.
Which Wich, which has more than 450 locations open or in development in 13 countries around the world, plans to eventually operates 100 new sites in Europe by 2027.
Under the terms of the deal, further expansion throughout the UK is possible after the opening of the first 10 London locations.
