Leading Pizza franchise, Papa John’s, has announced it has strengthened its property and franchise department with the appointment of Stuart Yates as acquisitions manager for the UK and Jonathan Mott as construction and development manager.

Both new recruits will support franchisees in the opening of new stores. This news follows the recent announcement that Papa John’s aims to open a further 25 stores by the end of the year, taking the total number of Papa John’s outlets to over 200 in the UK.

“We are proud to welcome two such experienced professionals to our team,” confirms Dave Galvin UK franchise sales manager, Papa John’s. “Stuart Yates’ area of responsibility is to secure new premises and arrange suitable leasehold agreements on behalf of our franchisees while Jonathan Mott, will manage and coordinate the complete planning and fit out process of stores, up to the delivery to the new franchisee.

Yates, a chartered surveyor, previously spent four years as estates surveyor for William Hill the bookmakers and prior to that was a graduate surveyor for the civil service. “Papa John’s is growing rapidly and I was impressed with enthusiasm of the team and keen to become a part of the overall success plan,” explains Yates.

Jonathan Mott, also a chartered surveyor, previously spent six years at Colliers International – Papa John’s retained property consultants – and so understands how to address the challenges of Papa John’s construction and development business on behalf of its franchisees.

Mott explains: “I will be managing the process from planning stage to completion in order that the hand-over to the new franchisee goes as smoothly as possible. As the number of outlets grows, it is important that head office team is in place to provide the right assistance at the right time to all our franchisees, allowing them to get on with the day-to-day aspects of running their businesses.”

Papa John’s is one of the largest pizza companies in the world, with over 3900 stores worldwide and is rapidly expanding in 33 markets around the globe. Papa John’s, which is renowned for its product quality, has opportunities for potential franchisees throughout the UK including the key locations of Yorkshire, Manchester, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, North East, Wales & Scotland.