Pizza delivery franchise operator Papa John's opened its 100th store in the UK and Ireland today in Hammersmith, London.

The company now has 93 units operating in the UK with another lined up to launch next week. It also has seven stores in Ireland.

Papa John's UK managing director Ian Saunders told Caterersearch: “In the last 18 months we have grown by 20 units. In 2008 we should be opening two stores every two to three weeks, which will take us to 120 or more stores by the year end.”

Papa John's expects half of all new stores opened this year to be with existing franchisees.

“We are putting a lot of effort into building good relationships with our franchise partners and we have experienced good sales growth with them across the past few years,” said Saunders.

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By Christopher Walton

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