Bank backs burger restaurant’s expansion plans

A burger restaurant has revealed plans to more than double its number of sites and create 200 new jobs by the end of 2023, with a Cardiff opening imminent. The move has been backed by a six-figure finance facility with Natwest.The Fat Hippo Group is aiming to open nine new burger restaurants, the first of which will open in Cardiff city centre, on Church Street, at the end of May.A Birmingham opening will follow a few weeks later, and its first Scottish restaurant in Glasgow will launch soon after. About 70 new jobs will be created across the three new venues, taking the total number of people employed across the group past the 300 mark.As part of its development plans, Fat Hippo Group has now finalised a six-figure finance facility with NatWest to complement the investments it is making in its new venues from its own resources.The management team is also working with Paul Gainford and Julie Cuthbertson of RMT Accountants and Business Advisors on all aspects of the development of its growth strategy, as well as the wider management of its expanding operations.The restaurant group was founded in 2010 by managing director Mike Phillips, who opened the first restaurant in Jesmond while studying at Northumbria University.Since then, the firm has opened further Fat Hippo restaurants in Newcastle, Durham, Leeds, Liverpool and Nottingham, as well as concessions within Lane 7’s Sheffield, Manchester and Edinburgh premises.