Rosa’s Thai heads north of the border

Currently in soft launch, the Glasgow site is centrally located on 41-43 Nile Street within a ground floor and basement site that totals nearly 4,500 sq ft. 

Billed as a flagship, the Edinburgh site is expected to open in October on 43 Frederick Street in the city’s New Town area.

The site is 4,001 sq ft and also includes a large external terrace area for external seating. 

The two new sites will take the group to a total of 37 locations and were both secured by specialist real estate agency and consultancy P-THREE. 

“Scotland has been a long-term target for us and we are so happy to launch with two prime sites in the two key cities,” says Rosa’s Thai property director Steve Seager. 

“Both restaurants will be situated in beautiful heritage buildings which helps reflect the authenticity of the Rosa’s brand. We are looking for more locations across the UK in prime locations and characteristics which meet our strict criteria for openings and we are excited to be working with P-THREE to help deliver this growth.”

Thomas Rose, co-founder at P-THREE, added: “We have partnered with Rosa’s Thai for four years, working hand-in-hand with them to create and execute their expansion strategy and we are delighted that we have now launched the brand into Scotland, which we see as a critical market for growth. Coming hot on the heels of other recent acquisitions in London, Bath, Leamington Spa and Reading we are looking forward to more outstanding locations for this extremely-popular brand.”

Rosa’s Thai started by Thai chef Saiphin Moore and her husband Alex as a market stall on London’s Brick Lane in 2007.

A year later, the Moores opened their first Rosa’s Thai restaurant in Spitalfields, just around the corner from the market stall.

Now backed by private equity house TriSpan and led by Gavin Adair, Rosa’s Thai recently secured a new £10m bank facility​​ from Barclays to help fund its ongoing openings pipeline.