MOD Pizza, the fast casual artisan pizza concept backed by Sir Charles Dunstone, will make its UK debut at the start of June in Leeds, MCA has learnt.
The company will open a 4,000sq ft site at the Cardigan Fields leisure park as part of plans to test the concept in a number of different UK locations over the next 12 months. It is thought that the group hopes to secure a further two sites in the coming couple of months.
The group’s signature 11-inch pizzas, which are made on demand and come with a variety of free toppings choices, will be priced at £7.47 in the regions and £7.87 in London.
The John Nelson-led concept expects to take on average seven minutes from when the consumer orders to delivery of their pizza. The brand will also highlight the companies made on demand salads and “hand spun” milkshakes.
Nelson told MCA that the company hoped to open five sites before Christmas, but that would “depend on the property market”. The group is looking for sites between 2,400sq ft to 4,000sq ft.
He said that the group had chosen Cardigan Fields for its strong restaurant mix – it also boasts a Five Guys, Nando’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Frankie & Benny’s, its catchment area and its wider leisure and retail offer. It is anchored by a nine-screen Vue cinema.
He said: “We wanted to test ourselves. We wouldn’t learn anything from opening in a unit away from all everyone else. Leeds is the country’s third largest city and Cardigan Fields has a catchment population of 400,000 people.”
Scott Svenson, co-founder of MOD Pizza, who signed a joint venture with Sir Dunstone to bring the concept to the UK, told MCA last year that there is an opportunity for the brand to grow to “hundreds of stores” in the UK.