London & South East

itsu branches out

Itsu, 30 Spital Square

Presenting fresh, flavoursome and healthy dishes itsu is an innovative and growing brand which is currently taking London by storm.

To date, itsu has 45 shops in London; a shop on Oxford’s Cornmarket Street; two flagship restaurants – itsu Chelsea and itsu Notting Hill – and continues to open new stores each year.

The itsu menu showcases Asian inspired flavours, is high in nutrients and low in calories and saturated fat. Via its vast portfolio of stores, itsu is able to present an intriguing menu which has been designed to offer customers the best meals possible.

Speaking to Premier Hospitality about the itsu brand, Tom Byng, Head of Property for itsu, said:

“itsu is about breathtakingly healthy, light food, which is delivered quickly and consistently. We offer really good products and engage with the consumer to provide food which is nutritious, and can be eaten on the go. Our customers know they can come back to us on a daily basis and they will be able to get a product which they will expect to be the same great quality with each visit.

“We started life primarily as a sushi chain, with our first restaurant being a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. We then grew and evolved the brand, maintaining two restaurants whilst opening up new retail stores which offer sushi, salads, rice dishes, noodles and other hot dishes.”

Itsu

All of the food across the itsu portfolio is prepared fresh, with dishes including miso soup, a range of sandwiches and salads, a selection of delicious sushi and lots more. A range of beverages are also available, including a collection of itsu detox drinks and iteas – a range of itsu teas.

As the itsu brand continues to grow, the company continues to open new stores throughout the capital, with new branches including Brunswick Centre, Great Peter Street, King William Street, Ludgate Hill and Spital Square.

Spital Square is situated in a prime location within the heart of the Bishop’s Gate area, London. The store is open Monday to Friday 10am to 8pm and is a large ground floor unit, covering an area of 3000 sq ft.

Tom commented:

“This is a very prominent space for us and is a city flagship store.”

Opening Monday to Sunday in Bloomsbury, itsu Brunswick Centre is an interesting site for the itsu brand as it was one which the company had its eye on for some time.

Tom said:

“itsu Brunswick Centre has done incredibly well for us. It is quite a narrow site, so the challenge was to ensure that we didn’t just end up with a tunnel-shaped store. The store includes a basement, which houses our staff areas, but the store is all set across one level and includes our preparation kitchen, seating and the main display area.”

Itsu, 30 Spital Square

itsu Great Peter Street opened towards the end of 2013 and was installed within a site which had remained as an unoccupied office for quite some time before being taken over by itsu.

Tom said:

“When we took over we altered the shop front, introducing better glazing and then we transformed the site into a fantastic unit. The feedback has been great and we are really happy with it. The site was certainly worth putting in the extra work to transform it.”

Following on from itsu Great Peter Street, itsu opened a new store on King William Street.

“We opened itsu King William Street in February 2014 and it was another site which had been in the pipeline for some time. The site had formerly been home to Santander offices, but when the building was taken over by a new landlord he was keen to inject a new lease of life into the site through the retail offers on the ground floor. Due to the shape of the unit it was a challenging site, however we made great use of the fit-out and we are trading very well.”

itsu Ludgate Hill opened in April 2014 and is the latest branch to open for the company. The store is divided across two levels and includes a downstairs preparation space with a first floor retail area.

Tom said:

“This site has operated under a number of different names in the past, with varying degrees of success, we have invested a great deal into this space and we believe this will be a big success for us.”

Itsu, 30 Spital Square

With stores in key locations throughout the Capital, there is no stopping itsu as it continues to expand, with new stores already in the pipeline.

Discussing the company’s expansion plans, Tom said:

“We aim to open between ten to twelve sites this year, with as many as possible within the first six months of 2014. By June we aim to have half of the sites opened and operating well. We are satisfied that we are meeting the demand for our products and we conduct a great deal of analysis on where we see new opportunities.

“Moving forward we are starting to look further afield, at cities around the UK which would work for us.”

For more information on Itsu, please visit: www.itsu.com.

GS Contracts

GS Contracts specialise in shop fitting and fit-out works within the commercial, retail, leisure and catering industries. As a limited company GS Contracts has been trading since 1992 and within this time has worked on an array of projects, including new shop fit-outs and refurbishments, whilst enabling the shop to continue to operate throughout the works.

itsu

Past works for GS Contracts include manufacturing and fitting bespoke counters, bars, tables, reception desks and feature walls, as well as providing and installing the complete interior finishes. Working on the ITSU projects GS Contracts was appointed as the main fit-out contractor, taking the units right through the fit-out process to deliver the finished shop ready to open to the public. As the main fit-out contractor GS Contracts also takes on the responsibility of liaising and coordinating with the ITSU direct sub-contractors for their specialist involvement.

Gary Smith of GS Contracts, said:

As with all the ITSU projects this was important as we have enjoyed a long relationship with ITSU from their early days including the first branded shop in Hanover Square next to Vogue house. We feel part of their development and are proud to be involved and see their continued success.”

Gary added:

We pride ourselves on trust, good communication, listening and understanding our client’s needs. We like to feel we are part of their team working as one, both with the same goal. We believe in attention to detail and by supporting Investors in People and implementing apprenticeships for many years we have developed the strength to grow with our staff and our clients.”

itsu

QSF Interiors

Family-run company, QSF Interiors specialise in all aspects of interiors works with a strong focus on the catering sector of the retail industry. Although this sector is where QSF Interiors is mostly recognised by its clients, the company has the facility to complete all aspect of works including major building and structural works and all specialist services.

QSF Interiors has traded since 1986 and within this time has built up a strong working relationship with clients including Vital Ingredient, Hotel Chocolat, OneStop, and Tinseltown. For more than ten years, QSF Interiors has worked as a main contractor for Pret a Manger which has seen it complete flagship store fit-outs for many prestigious sites.

Working for itsu, QSF Interiors has been the main contractor on stores for more than two years, completing new build fit-outs.

Tim Badenoch, QSF Interiors, said:

“We were the main contractor for many of the projects and were the first point of contact to the client liaising with all trades and subcontractors, carrying out a full fit-out of the new stores from receipt of the new unit to the handover to our client.”

Tim added:

“Our work on itsu allows us to build an ongoing relationship, working to an agreed schedule to complete multiple sites per year helping them to meet their targets for growth and expansion over the next few years. Every project is important to us to make the process easy for itsu and further our relationship into the future.”

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