Barburrito, the Morgan Davies-led chain, has appointed a head of property as it gears up for nationwide expansion that will see it double in size in the next two years.
Jim Bishop has joined the 11-strong company from Sainsbury’s where he was head of property business development and previously worked as national acquisitions manager for Barracuda Bar Group and acquisitions manager at both Burtonwood Brewery and Scottish & Newcastle brewers.
M&C Report understands Barburrito’s next opening will be in Cardiff where it has secured a site for an early summer opening.
Founder Davies told M&C: “We are geared up for expansion and I wanted an experienced well-recognised professional on the job.
“As a company our aspirations are national and we are looking at major cities across the UK and we have the funding in place to go on with that.”
Davies said Bishop’s appointment continues the strengthening of the senior management team at Barburrito which included the appointment of Steve Herring as finance director last year.
The company has expressed its ambition to double its estate by 2017 having already doubled in the past 18 months.
It is looking for restaurants in high footfall locations in busy city centres and transport hubs.
Morgan said there are “quite a few plates spinning” at present to grow the business which he said has been trading really well with like-for-like sales up across the current estate.
