Marco Pierre White to open 50 new restaurants

The master franchise agreement with Sanguine Hospitality involves two of White’s brands -  Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill and Marco’s New York Italian – being expanded with funding from the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

The first new restaurant will open in Manchester next year, with other sites expected to follow in Cardiff and London. Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow have also been cited as target cities.

“I am delighted to have signed a master franchise agreement with Sanguine that will see us open 50 new restaurants across the UK and Northern Ireland over the next five years,” said White. “There is no better suited location than Manchester to embark on this ambitious expansion plan.

“With Manchester now attracting talent away from London, the City is in a prime position to capitalise on the continued economic recovery.”

Successful format​

The Manchester restaurant will fall under the Marco’s New York Italian format and will be situated in a new Hotel Indigo in the city centre. Expected to open at the end of 2015, the 150-cover ground-floor restaurant and 181-bedroom hotel will together create around 350 new jobs for the local area.

Other confirmed Marco Pierre White restaurants will open in Cardiff and London – also housed within Hotel Indigo-branded properties from the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG).

White already has three Steakhouse restaurants at Hotel Indigo sites in  Liverpool​​, Newcastle​​ and Birmingham​ ​–all of which are ‘trading ahead of expectations’, with the latter beating expectations by 157 per cent in its first year.

Anna Corkill, IHG’s development director for the UK and Ireland, said: “Sanguine Hospitality is a valued partner of ours and the relationship continues to go from strength to strength.

“We remain committed to working with reputable investors and owners in the industry for the long-term in order to deliver high-quality, sustainable growth.”

Hotel Indigo partnership​

Investment fund managers Tritax Group has structured the deal to ‘maximise investor returns’. The Manchester restaurant is an EIS-qualifying company; allowing investors to benefit from the tax incentives offered by HMRC.

Day-to-day management of the new Hotel Indigo in Manchester will be executed by Interstate United Kingdom Management Limited, the UK subsidiary of Interstate Hotels & Resorts.​​

White, who started his culinary career as a kitchen porter aged 16,​​ has been involved in restaurants scene for over 25 years, helping to kick-start the careers of big-name chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal - both of whom trained under him.

In the below video filmed in 2011, White spoke to BigHospitality about the evolution from chef to restaurateur and TV personality.