YouMeSushi Investment Adds Up for Newest Franchisee
Known to his friends as JJ, YouMeSushi’s newest franchisee is set to open his first site in Wandsworth in the coming months. With ambitions to grow, JJ talks about his journey, what impressed him about the team, and why the fresh sushi brand stood out.
“I was previously an investment banker for around 18 years. It’s a short-lived career, like a footballer’s. You earn well, but it’s incredibly intense. Working 16-hour days with little time to take a break or a holiday was stressful and eventually took its toll health-wise, so I left the industry to travel and write.
“Along that journey, I became a critic and writer for a horror magazine for several years. I always thought there were some comparisons to be made between horror and investment banking: mainly the tension and the occasional sleepless night!
“It was at a well-catered event at one of Britain’s most haunted pubs in York that I realised food could be a great business opportunity for the future.
“While travelling around the world, including the Far East, I tasted a variety of foods and loved their uniqueness and flavour. I started attending food conferences and franchise shows, and reached the point of talking to one US company about bringing their concept to the UK, but the support just wasn’t there.
“I was also a regular at YouMeSushi in Brent Cross and really enjoyed the fresh sushi and delicious hot dishes. I looked into other sushi brands and carried out my due diligence. I had seen YouMeSushi’s franchise manager, Tim Circus, interviewed in a magazine, so I gave him a call. There was no rigmarole of form filling or submitting details of my (lack of) experience. He simply said, ‘Let’s meet up and have a chat.’ I’m never one to say no to a free lunch, so I agreed, and the rest is history.
“Tim turned out to be a real font of knowledge. He knew all the business figures by heart without needing to consult spreadsheets, and had a detailed understanding of each store and its performance. He also encouraged me to speak to existing franchisees. Tim was both approachable and transparent. In investment banking, many deals are done on a handshake, often at social gatherings, so bonding over lunch, and even discussing our favourite Netflix series, showed how well we could work together. If I have any questions, information is supplied within minutes. In another life, Tim would have made a great investment banker!
“Wandsworth was presented as an option, so we visited the site, which is situated right on the high street. Although I’m a North Londoner, I knew the area, and in my mind, the footfall calculations more than added up.
“The next step was financing. Even with my background in numbers, the finance route was surprisingly complex. With a loan, you ideally want to repay it as soon as possible, but some banks impose penalties for early repayment. There’s also a minefield of schemes, including the Government Guarantee Scheme for loans without collateral -in other words, where you don’t have to put your house on the line. I spoke to several banks and have now secured finance through NatWest’s franchise department. The NatWest Franchise including Aaron Britton, David Concannon and Jonathan Dowling been brilliant and gave the thumbs up about YouMeSushi, which was reassuring.
“Overall, the process so far has been an incredible learning curve. Every time I met Tim, I learned something new. However, there was never any pressure. It feels like a true partnership, which was important to me as I’m going into this new venture on my own. I’m now very motivated and excited to begin a new chapter with YouMeSushi, knowing I’ve made the right investment for the future.”
