Giuseppe Verdoni, co-founder of Italian craft beer pub concept, The Italian Job, has told MCA he expects to open the second site under the brand by the summer following a successful crowdfund.
He said the £420,000 raised through the Crowdcube campaign (£70,000 above the target) would stimulate a growth pipeline of one site a year.
The group currently operates a pub in Chiswick, with offers 12 beers on draught matched with a range of Italian street food dishes. The venture was co-founded by Verdoni and Giovanni Campari – the brewmaster of Birrifico del Ducato, which supplies beer to the Italian Job.
As previously reported by MCA, the group plans to launch a franchise offer after reaching a five-strong London estate.
Verdoni said: “We are confident we can get there by the summer. The format is pretty flexible so we have been able to look at a lot of sites.
“We are generating good profit from the first pub and if the others are the same then we should be in a good position for generating growth. We think we can open one a year.
“The crowdfunding has been good, not just for generating the money to grow but also in the exposure for the first site. We are currently up 30% on last year.”
