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itsu (いつ/itsu is Japanese for when) is a British chain of East Asian-inspired fast food shops and restaurants and a grocery company. The company offers franchises.

History

The chain was founded by Julian Metcalfe, co-founder of sandwich chain Pret a Manger, in partnership with Clive Schlee.

In 2006, following the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, traces of the deadly isotope Polonium-210 were found at the Piccadilly branch of Itsu in London, where Litvinenko had dined on the day he was poisoned.

Outlets and expansion

The first itsu restaurant opened in Chelsea, London in 1997. In September 2013, itsu opened its first restaurant outside London, in Oxford.

In January 2016, itsu opened its first Northern England restaurant, in Spinningfields, central Manchester. The chain later opened a branch in Leeds.

As of 2022 itsu had 76 restaurants in England, including 54 in London (44 in February 2023), and one in Brussels Airport, Belgium.

In June 2018, the company opened a branch in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, US. In February 2023 itsu's Web site listed Brussels and Paris as the only non-UK locations; the US Web page was dead.

itsu

In March 2012, Metcalfe's Food Company, run by Robert Jakobi, launched the itsu brand into retail under the name itsu .

Partnerships

In January 2014, itsu became the official partner of the Volleyball England Beach Tour, but was not listed on the UKBT Web site as of 2021.

References

1. "itsu story". itsu. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
2. "Annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2020" (PDF). Companies House. itsu Limited. 4 March 2022. p. 34. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
3. Moules, Jonathan. "itsu founder nurtures a new generation" Archived 25 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Financial Times, London, 21 January 2014. Retrieved on 21 January 2014.
4. "franchising". itsu. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
5. Smithers, Rebecca (8 October 2010). "Pret A Manger chief is stacking up healthy profits in lean times". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
6. Harding, Luke (6 March 2016). "Alexander Litvinenko and the most radioactive towel in history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
7. Milmo, Cahal; Osborn, Andrew (8 December 2006). "Litvinenko's associate 'in a coma' as spy murder mystery deepens". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
8. "£1m itsu restaurant to open in Oxford". Oxford Mail. 5 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
9. Shelina Begum (10 December 2015). "itsu picks Spinningfields for Manchester opening". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
10. "itsu locations". itsu. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
11. Dai, Serena (4 June 2018). "Pret Founder's Asian Grab-and-Go Chain itsu Just Dropped Into Midtown". Eater. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
12. Vince Bamford, "itsu to target retailers with new Asian snacks" Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Grocer, June 2011
13. Charlotte Edwardes, "Mr itsu: Julian Metcalfe on beautiful lean cuisine, why he loves London's hard-working immigrants and his noisy troupe of children and steps Archived 30 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, "London Evening Standard", 3 February 2014
14. "UKBT Partners". UK Beach Tour. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2023.

External links

• Official website
• itsu Grocery website

• Restaurants in London
• Asian restaurants in the United Kingdom
• Restaurants established in 1997