Hero Brands invests in Island Poké growth

Island Poké has secured ‘a substantial undisclosed sum’ of investment from Hero Brands to further accelerate its plans for growth.

This new trajectory will be spearheaded by recent appointment Nick Schapira as business development director, who previously worked as chief operating officer at the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group and international franchising chief executive at Vapiano.

Having more than doubled in size in the last year to 17 outlets, with four new dark kitchen sites in the UK and five outlets opened in France, five more sites are expected to be added to Island Poké’s portfolio by the end of 2021.

The investment will see Hero Brands, owner of German Doner Kebab and salad brand Choppaluna, represented on the board alongside early investor Chris Miller of White Rabbit Projects and founder James Gould-Porter (pictured).

Gould-Porter said: “We’re so excited to be bringing Hero Brands on board and the experience that they’ll bring to the table. We’ve been working closely together and feel that our businesses are a great fit for each other. We’ve seen what they’ve done with other concepts within their portfolio and look forward to growing together.”

Hero Brands chairman Athif Sarwar said: “Hero Brands is responding to emerging consumer trends and focused on growing the brands of the future. We look to partner with disruptive brands that have a USP and can be scaled and taken to global markets.

“Island Poké fits with our DNA and is a fantastic concept that is already proving to be a huge hit with consumers across London and France.

“We are now very much looking forward to working with James and the team to bring our expertise and embark on our ambitions to create a truly global brand.”

Miller added: “It has been incredibly tough in the hospitality market over the past year so it is great to provide some good news with a big growth plan and the job opportunities that it will create.

“Island Poké was our first project at White Rabbit and James and the team have done an incredible job growing the company rapidly in a very short period of time. We look forward to welcoming the expertise of Hero to the table to help accelerate that further.”