Papa John’s delivers rst modular pod to Haven’s Riviere Sands

Papa John’s has literally ‘delivered’ a new store to UK holiday park operator, Haven’s Riviere Sands resort in Cornwall with the new ‘modular pod’ a new containerised soluti on, mainly built off site and craned into positi on.

Amit Pancholi, business development director, Papa John’s UK explained: “We off er fl exible formats for our franchised stores. This may be a mobile delivery unit, right up to a fully built and customised store. We worked together with Haven to develop the Riviere Sands modular pod which now demonstrates Papa John’s fl exibility and diverse franchise opti ons suitable for resorts, stadiums, leisure venues, amusement parks and more!

“For Haven’s Riviere Sands Park, the team chose a bespoke modular 12x5m unit which is built off site and delivered on a low loader. The modular pod is an effi cient, eff ecti ve soluti on that minimises site constructi on disrupti on. Once in situ, fi nalisati on of the build, including the heavy items such as oven and refrigerati on are added, and connecti on to be up and running is completed in a matt er of days.”

Lucy Greene, brand opening & development manager, Haven confi rmed: “We are super excited about the modular unit! We lacked space within our existi ng buildings at Riviere Sands and so the pod is ideal! We have been able to place it precisely where we wanted - in the highest foot-fall area of the park - with minimal disrupti on for our guests.

“Going modular also off ers more opportuniti es to add further Papa John’s to other Haven parks in the future too. The format is totally bespoke, so we could even opt for a larger unit encompassing indoor seati ng for example. As for now, our guests are certainly enjoying a taste of Papa John’s at our Riviere Sands Park.”

Haven, part of the Bourne Leisure Group, owned by Blackstone, now has 29 Papa John’s located at its popular seaside holiday parks around the UK. The holiday park operator also opened new Papa John’s at Berwick Holiday Park near Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Wild Duck near Great Yarmouth earlier this year.

Amit Pancholi added: “The delivery of the pod at Riviere Sands is proof of concept that complies with all building regulati ons and opens up opportuniti es for leisure venues, stadiums and holiday parks and could even be supplied to be positi oned in a pub car park. Planning permission can be easier to obtain depending on site, and with a 40-year design life, the pods can be more cost eff ecti ve than a long property lease.”

A new store opening in Alton makes it fi ve for Papa John’s delivery driver turned multi-unit franchisee, Jay Singh.

Jay, who also runs Papa John’s in Farnham, Basingstoke, Andover, Farnborough, and now Alton, started out in-store and as a delivery driver for the pizza franchise, before working his way up to become a store manager over several years. By 2010 he was able to acquire his fi rst franchised Papa John’s store in Basingstoke.

“I could see the business opportunity while I worked as an employee, then I used the experience and knowledge I’d learned to grow a portfolio of my own stores. It’s been an amazing journey. If you told me 15 years ago, I’d be running fi ve Papa John’s of my own one day, I’d never have believed it!” said Jay Singh.

The Alton store has recruited fi fteen new, local team members, and because Jay manages outlets close to each other, it helps with recruitment and staff training. Jay, who now employs well over 50 team members across all his Papa John’s stores, added: “The secret of my success is hard work, and because I’ve learned the business from the ground up, I also understand the importance of a great team who are all well trained.

“My stores are near each other which makes hands on training easier. I can bring experienced team members in to help and support with new openings and training is backed up by the Papa John’s online Pizza Academy training platform too.”

The new Alton store is centrally located in the high street and has been fi tted out with Papa John’s refreshed branding, and Jay Singh has also been able to take advantage of Papa John’s special incentive scheme for new store openings.

“It’s a great look!” said Jay Singh. “I’ve upgraded two of my other Papa John’s too. It’s fun, fresh, bold and welcoming, and I hope it encourages many new customers to give us a try! It’s great to have the support and back up of Papa John’s too. It means I can consider further expansion in the region in the future.”