Former Papa John’s student employee turns franchisee with Redditch venture

Pizza franchise Papa John’s has signed its newest franchisee; Bilal Arshad; who previously worked for the chain “way back when he was in college”.

Arshad, who more recently worked for the National Grid, decided to become a franchisee as he “always loved the product” and now runs his own outlet in Redditch and has already recruited 26 employees.

The pizza entrepreneur’s early success with his franchise venture means that he’s already planning his second store opening in a few weeks and he has even said that he may consider purchasing re-sale units in the future.

Founded in the US in 1994, Papa John’s now has 280 franchises across the UK, and 4,600 stores in 36 international markets and territories.

The pizza brand has recently launched its new incentive scheme for 2015 which includes discounted royalty fees, marketing spend and free equipment for new franchise openings in the Midlands, Wales, the North West, North East and Scotland.

Discussing his franchise experience with Papa John’s, Arshad said: “I was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of Papa John’s current incentive scheme.

“The support and training provided by head office was great and it has ensured the team could deliver top quality pizza from day one and we are already gaining a lot of repeat business. I am looking forward to undertaking some powerful local marketing, plus the national initiatives that Papa John’s has planned will be sure to generate even more business and take the store to the next level.”

To find out more about Papa John’s new franchise incentives, click here.