‘Papa John’ himself, John Schnatter, founder and CEO of leading Pizza franchise, Papa John’s, has taken time to inspire UK franchisees during a whistle-stop visit to London last weekend. US based, Schnatter flew into the UK and gave away free pizza at the official opening of Papa John’s Tower Bridge store and also took time-out to give away more pizza during his first ever visit to the Harrow Road store.

“John Schnatter’s story is an inspiration to all our franchisees,” confirms Dave Galvin, UK franchise sales manager, Papa John’s. “At high school, he worked as a dishwasher at Rocky’s sub pub in Jefferson, Indiana, later selling his prized car to fund used restaurant equipment to make and sell his own pizza from a converted broom closet in his father’s tavern. Today, the franchise operates 3,900 stores in 33 countries around the world and so we were delighted that ‘Papa’ himself was able to show his support for our UK franchisees in this way."

Papa John’s concept of only using the highest quality ingredients and 100% fresh dough to create a top quality pizza with a better natural flavour has proved popular in the UK. The company now has 88 UK franchisees operating 185 outlets and the Papa John’s team aim to open further stores to reach a goal of more than 200 by the year end.

Papa John’s, which is renowned for its product quality, has opportunities for potential franchisees throughout the UK including the key locations of Yorkshire, Manchester, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, North East, Wales & Scotland. The company helps source premises and provides full training and support to allow franchisees to run a successful operation under the popular and highly regarded Papa John’s brand.