British chain of East Asian-inspired restaurants
itsu (いつ/itsu is
Japanese for whenever ) is a British chain of
East Asian -inspired fast food shops and restaurants and a grocery company.
[3] The company offers
franchises .
[4]
History
The chain was founded by
Julian Metcalfe , co-founder of sandwich chain
Pret a Manger , in partnership with
Clive Schlee .
[5]
In 2006, following the
poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko , traces of the deadly isotope
Polonium-210 were found at the
Piccadilly branch of Itsu in London, where Litvinenko had dined on the day he was poisoned.
[6]
[7]
Outlets and expansion
itsu, Commercial Street,
Leeds
The first itsu restaurant opened in
Chelsea, London in 1997. In September 2013, itsu opened its first restaurant outside London, in
Oxford .
[8]
In January 2016, itsu opened its first
Northern England restaurant, in
Spinningfields , central
Manchester .
[9] The chain later opened a branch in
Leeds .
As of 2022
[update] itsu had 76 restaurants in England, including 54 in London (44 in February 2023), and one in
Brussels Airport , Belgium.
[10]
In June 2018, the company opened a branch in
Midtown Manhattan ,
New York City , US.
[11] In February 2023 itsu's Web site listed Brussels and Paris as the only non-UK locations; the
US Web page was dead.
itsu [grocery]
In March 2012,
Metcalfe's Food Company , run by
Robert Jakobi , launched the itsu brand into retail
[12] under the name itsu [grocery].
Partnerships
In January 2014, itsu became the official partner of the
Volleyball England Beach Tour,
[13] but was not listed on the UKBT Web site as of 2021.
[14]
References
^
"itsu story" . itsu .
Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022 .
^
"Annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2020" (PDF) .
Companies House . itsu Limited. 4 March 2022. p. 34. Retrieved 8 June 2022 .
^ Moules, Jonathan.
"itsu founder nurtures a new generation"
Archived 25 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine ,
Financial Times , London, 21 January 2014. Retrieved on 21 January 2014.
^
"franchising" . itsu . 5 April 2022.
Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023 .
^ Smithers, Rebecca (8 October 2010).
"Pret A Manger chief is stacking up healthy profits in lean times" . The Guardian . London.
Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013 .
^ Harding, Luke (6 March 2016).
"Alexander Litvinenko and the most radioactive towel in history" . The Guardian .
ISSN
0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 July 2023 .
^ Milmo, Cahal; Osborn, Andrew (8 December 2006).
"Litvinenko's associate 'in a coma' as spy murder mystery deepens" . The Independent . London. Archived from
the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2023 .
^
"£1m itsu restaurant to open in Oxford" .
Oxford Mail . 5 September 2013.
Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2022 .
^ Shelina Begum (10 December 2015).
"itsu picks Spinningfields for Manchester opening" .
Manchester Evening News .
Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2016 .
^
"itsu locations" . itsu .
Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022 .
^ Dai, Serena (4 June 2018).
"Pret Founder's Asian Grab-and-Go Chain itsu Just Dropped Into Midtown" .
Eater .
Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022 .
^ Vince Bamford,
"itsu to target retailers with new Asian snacks"
Archived 22 February 2014 at the
Wayback Machine The Grocer, June 2011
^ Charlotte Edwardes,
"Mr itsu: Julian Metcalfe on beautiful lean cuisine, why he loves London's hard-working immigrants and his noisy troupe of children and steps
Archived 30 March 2015 at the
Wayback Machine , "London Evening Standard", 3 February 2014
^
"UKBT Partners" . UK Beach Tour .
Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2023 .
External links