Papa John's to expand franchise in the north west of England

Pizza chain Papa John's is to open nine further restaurants under franchise in the north west of England with plans for an additional 20 in future.

The company, which has more than 450 sites in the UK, said the new openings will create more than 150 jobs with the first restaurant set to open in Middleton in Manchester.

Papa John's has signed a development deal with franchisees Richard McElroy, a former national operations director for Whitbread's restaurant division, and Chris Makin, an entrepreneur with a background in manufacturing.

McElroy said: "We have huge confidence in the Papa John's leadership team to support us as we grow. The constant pipeline of new and innovative menu choices is a is a recipe for success

"We are recruiting locally, and our goal is to build an infrastructure of a size and scale which provides employment opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds in roles in HR, operations, customer service, plus our all-important delivery drivers."

Papa John's announced in January that it was seeking franchise partners to expand the brand into ‘non-traditional' locations such as holiday parks, stadia and leisure centres.

The company was founded in the United States in 1984 and now trades from more than 5,000 restaurants in more than 40 international markets.