Wagamama to open 10 new UK restaurants and create 500 jobs in major update

05 February 2024 , 08:51

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Wagamama is opening 10 new restaurants creating 500 jobs (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Wagamama has announced plans to open up to 10 new restaurants across the UK, creating around 500 jobs.

The pan-Asian restaurant chain opened its first new site of the year in Bentley Bridge, Wolverhampton on Monday, citing growing demand from consumers.

The popular chain, known for its casual dining on bench seating, has over 170 restaurants in the UK since it first launched in London 32 years ago. This year, it plans to open sites in locations including St Enoch's in Glasgow, Epsom, Doncaster, Chatham in Kent, and Watford.

These new openings will create about 500 jobs, including roles for kitchen porters, waiters, chefs and general managers, according to Wagamama. Chief executive Thomas Heier said 2023 had been an "exciting year" with the launch of new dishes on a Korean-inspired menu, including vegan corn dogs, or K-dogs, hot pots and rice bowls.

He added that half of the menu is now meat-free, saying: "Our teams have done an excellent job in continuing to elevate our guest experience and we very much look forward to welcoming more guests to our benches as we head into 2024." Sales at Wagamama restaurants increased by more than a tenth in the half-year to August, compared with the same period the previous year. The chain opened six new sites over 2023.

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The Restaurant Group (TRG), owners of Wagamama, was bought by US private equity giant Apollo for £701 million, including debts, last October. This sparked competition to take over TRG, which also owns the Brunning and Price pub group.

Pizza Express owner Wheel Topco thought about making a bid for the group, but decided not to because of "market conditions". Previously in the year, TRG arranged to sell its loss-making chains Frankie & Benny's and Chiquto to Big Table Group which owns Bella Italia, Las Iguanas and Banana Tree. They agreed to pay £7.5 million in cash to Big Table to buy its struggling leisure division.

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Lawrence Matheson