San Carlo Restaurant Group plans ambitious international expansion
Addressing the Rainmakers Conference during his keynote fireside chat, Marcello Distefano, managing director of San Carlo Restaurant Group, outlined his group’s national and international growth since his father founded the enterprise in Birmingham in 1992.
He said: “We’ve had a great few years and are going through a lot of growth at the moment.
“We are a family business first and foremost, we’ve never been heavily leveraged and we’ve never wanted to be.
“We’ve got 25 sites in the UK and have got 10 franchises – that’s going to double in the next 18 months.
“We’re now looking at Ireland and mainland Europe, so we’ll have to think more strategically.”
Currently, as well as the 25 UK sites, San Carlo has three restaurants in Saudi Arabia, three in Qatar and one each in Bangkok, Bahrain and Dubai.
He didn’t rule out an ambitious return to the home country with the opportunity to open in Milan, Italy. But higher on the list of key projects is a private members club in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, where the group is developing a former French colonial house surrounded by rare trees.
He also welcomed the plethora of new globally known food brands looking at the Manchester, and said it would raise everyone’s aspirations and standards.
“Manchester is really the capital of the North – there’s so much going on in this city. We’ve been in the city 20 years and are still seeing no signs of decline for our restaurant here.
“As retailers leave, empty spaces can only be filled up with food and beverage but we’re not worried anymore about the competition, because it’s just bringing more and more people into the city.”
Marcello, son of the chairman Carlo Distefano, also told the story of how his father arrived in Britain from Sicily in 1962 aged 17, with £12 in his pocket, a work permit and the promise of a job at a barbershop.
By the age of 20, Carlo had opened his first joint business venture, a hairdressing salon in Leeds; he also had interests in a coffee bar and a disco.
TheBusinessDesk.com believe passionately that the jobs created, specialisms developed, and the entrepreneurs unleashed give the Rainmakers community the right to a seat at the table and a voice in the debate on the economy of the North.
This platform, like the 2024 Rainmakers conference, is an opportunity to not only celebrate the contribution from funds raised and deals created, but also to look to the future at the challenges ahead.
Visit rainmakers.thebusinessdesk.com to find out more and subscribe
