Meet the team

The Sushi Co continues to increase the number of live sushi kitchens on high streets around the country.  Meet the team behind the brand who support franchisees on their journey to build a profitable Sushi Co franchised outlet.

Raheel Choudhary, CEO & Co-founder of The Sushi Co
A successful franchisee for 25 years, Raheel previously owned 61 franchised pizza outlets in the UK.  In 2021 he sold this business with no immediate plans for the future however, it was not long before he started itching for a brand new venture.  Sushi beckoned as a trending, growing sector.  Following extensive research, Raheel and his team realised they could do better than any existing sushi brand, to create a developed franchised opportunity that offered a refined and proven business model with excellent ROI.  A few years ago, Raheel had never tried sushi, now he’s a sushi convert.  He now brings his extensive QSR experience to the table for the benefit of new franchisees to help them maximise their own business profitability.

Hadia, Co-founder & Brand Visionary, The Sushi Co
Hadia has been instrumental in building the brand from the ground up, bringing The Sushi Co to life with vision and heart, from designing the very first store to developing the original branding and packaging.  Hadia wears many hats and has most recently led the redesign of The Sushi Co’s interiors to make them feel vibey, welcoming and effortlessly stylish.

Wife of Raheel and proud mum of four, Hadia is a true sushi fan.  Hadia is on a mission to make sushi mainstream, and position it as fun, sharable and craveable – something everyone looks forward to.  “When people think sushi, I want them to think of The Sushi Co first.”

Sama Varanand Reddy, Co-founder of The Sushi Co
As co-founder of the Sushi Co, Sam is a key investor in the company and has directly contributed to its rapid growth and success so far.  A former operations director for a Pizza Hut franchisee managing a large group of stores, and then a joint venture project partner running outlets for another pizza brand with Raheel, means Sam has many years’ experience in the food industry.  He now brings this wealth of knowledge forward to support The Sushi Co’s franchisees in relation to design and builds, finance and special projects.

In his spare time Sam enjoys playing football and cricket.

Haran Thushiharan, Head of Operations at The Sushi Co
As a performance manager, Haran has over 30 years’ of experience working within fast-paced F&B environments across corporate and franchisee businesses, implementing effective business strategies to drive revenue growth, increase market share and enhance customer satisfaction.  He is passionate about delivering exceptional dining experiences for customers and fostering strong relationships with franchisees and staff to attain operational excellence, streamline operations and drive cost efficiencies to meet and exceed organisational corporate goals.

At the Sushi Co, Haran supports franchisees with training, standards and operations to help them maximise profitability within their individual businesses.

In his spare time, Haran likes nothing better than to head out into nature armed with his best camera to capture the landscape and scenery.

Connect with me on Linkedin: Haran - Somasekaram Thushiharan

Daya Reddy Sama, Head of Supply Chain
Daya fulfils a vital role at The Sushi Co business.  A former regional manager at a leading QSR franchise brand, in the past, Daya also operated his own supply chain business,  he brings a wealth of commercial experience to the table. 

At The Sushi Co, Daya is Head of Supply Chain and works closely with suppliers to source the best ingredients with a keen focus on quality.  One of his successes has been to source our gold standard  Scottish salmon.  He also works closely with our executive chef to develop our ever tasteful menu selection and seasonal specials at The Sushi Co.  Another one of his main focusses has been to rationalise the number of suppliers successfully to ensure ease of ordering for franchisees and to help maintain an industry leading food cost to boost our store level profitability.

Daya’s favourite sushi dish is Salmon Sashimi and Ebi Panko Rolls.   In his spare time, Daya enjoys spending time with his family and playing cricket.

Anthony Round, Specialist Food Franchise Consultant
Anthony brings three decades of experience in the franchising industry to the Sushi Co, having worked with some of the most recognised quick service restaurant (QSR) brands, including Domino’s Pizza, Papa Johns, Yum! Brands, German Doner Kebab (GDK), Wingers and also The COOP.  His extensive background in both development and operational roles gives him a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to launch and grow a franchised QSR brand successfully.  Anthony thrives on connecting great people with great brands and takes pride in guiding them to become highly skilled, effective multi-site operators.

At the weekends Anthony likes to dust off his vintage MGB (known as Betty) and take it for a spin with his bulldog Nelly.

Zain Hussein Head of Marketing
Zain has worked in marketing for his entire career with the past ten years focused on franchise brand growth development with a particular specialism in the QSR space.  Zain supported The Sushi Co initially with branding for the very first store launch and now heads up the marketing.   Zain and his design team oversee socials, web, online and offline marketing at a corporate and local level helping individual franchisees improve average transactional values (ATV).

Zain is always on the go, but in his downtime enjoys travel and eating out with family.

Interested and want to know more about The Sushi Co?

The The Sushi Co profile outlines all aspects of their franchise opportunity and allows you to contact them for further information or to ask a question.

View franchise profile