David Page: ‘People who don't know what they are doing are opening restaurants'

Veteran restaurateur David Page, who owns pizza chain Franco Manca through AIM-quoted Fulham Shore, has warned that the restaurant market is challenging but that some operators' woes are self-inflicted.

The comments came as part of a wide-ranging interview in The Times today.

Franco Manca, which has 33 sites and is aiming for 45, may be doing well but economic uncertainty related to Brexit, rising costs such as business rates, and the impact of a surge of new restaurants on an already competitive market is challenging operators, according to Page.

He added: "A load of capital has been thrown at the sector. People who don't know what they're doing are opening restaurants, so there's been a lot of wasted capital."

Franco Manca is currently eyeing more sites outside of London, in Reading, Bath, Bristol and Exeter as well as negotiation on sites in Edinburgh.

Page started his career as a restaurateur by building up 14 franchised PizzaExpress sites. He founded Clapham House Group in 2002, which ran brands including Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Real Greek and Tootsies.

In addition to Franco Manca, Fulham Shore owns the Real Greek, which has 12 sites, and a single Bukowski Grill franchise in London's Soho.

To read the full interview click here.

Franco Manca and Real Greek restaurants set for expansion >>

Pizza restaurant Four Hundred Rabbits to open second site >>

Franco Manca owner Fulham Shore plans five new sites after delivering £3.3m profit >>

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