Papa John's opens 5m Pounds dough plant
Papa John's Pizza's Founder, Chairman and co-CEO, John Schnatter, has flown in from the USA to officially open a new £5m dough plant and Quality Control Centre in Milton Keynes.
The facility on Northfield Drive will cater for the expanding company's production needs going forward, with equipment in place to supply dough to 400 stores.
There are currently nearly 140 Papa John's outlets in the UK, with the company aiming to reach 200 by 2012 and plans to continue to increase its presence across Britain. The opening of the Quality Control Centre will result in the creation of at least 30 new jobs, and 20 or more new jobs will also be created each time a new Papa John's restaurant opens in the UK.
Schnatter has been accompanied on the trip by Jude Thompson, Papa John's President and co-CEO; Tom Sterrett, Senior Vice President, International; and Jack Swaysland, Papa John's UK Managing Director.
Papa John's founder and co-CEO, John Schnatter, said: "We have great confidence in the team here in the UK and this investment is proof of the potential of the growth opportunities here for Papa John's.
"The excellent facility in Milton Keynes enables us to have greater control over quality, including for the production of our 100% fresh dough, 100% of the time, for our restaurants across the UK.
"We will 'grow into' this plant, and believe it will allow us to reach for the sky in the UK pizza delivery market. The purchase of the site has created a huge buzz in the company because, following on from a series of strong financial results, it is further proof that Papa John's UK is going places."
The detached facility, which covers nearly 50 thousand square feet, enjoys a prime location close to Junction 14 of the M1, making it the ideal distribution base. The M25, M6 and A14 are all within close range, and the centre of Milton Keynes is less than two miles away.
Papa John's UK achieved 9.7 per cent growth in like-for-like sales in the second quarter of 2010. This is the 18th consecutive period of comparative sales growth and continues Papa John's robust performance.
Papa John's has a strong pipeline of franchise owners but is always keen to hear from anyone interested in taking on their own store. To find out more about Papa John's franchise opportunities, people should call 01932 568000, email enquiries@papajohns.co.uk or visit www.papajohns.co.uk/franchise
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, Papa John's is the world's third largest pizza company. For 10 of the last 11 years, U.S. consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the prestigious American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). In the UK, Papa John's was named Pizza Delivery Chain of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2009 by the Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association.
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