Papa Johns opens a restaurant at 173 Clandeboye Road in Bangor, Co Down, on Wednesday, the third site opened in Northern Ireland by franchisee Rana Group since signing a 20-restaurant agreement. The site will create 20 jobs, and the first 100 customers will receive a free medium pizza.
The Irish News reported the Bangor opening on 9 November. It follows restaurants in Ballymena, which opened last December, and on the Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast, which opened in May. Rana Group has committed to open 20 Papa Johns restaurants across Northern Ireland over the next decade.
The Bangor restaurant
The Clandeboye Road restaurant is the third pizza site opened by Rana Group in Northern Ireland, after Ballymena and east Belfast. The Irish News reports that the opening will be marked with 100 free medium pizzas for the first 100 customers, and that the restaurant will create 20 jobs. The group’s owner, who the paper says has more than 25 years’ experience in the pizza industry, told the paper: “It’s an exciting time for Papa Johns in Northern Ireland”.
A franchisee with two brands
Rana Group is also a franchisee of the Mary Brown’s Chicken brand, according to the Irish News, which names the Lisburn Leisure Park and Odyssey Place in Belfast as its sites. The two brands sit side by side in the group’s Northern Ireland portfolio. The Grocer, reporting the 20-restaurant agreement, said the first store opened on 5 December and that a second would be announced by March 2026.
Grant Read, managing director for the UK and Europe at Papa Johns, said: “We’re delighted to be bringing Papa Johns to Bangor”.
Good to know
Franchising is not governed by a dedicated statute anywhere in the UK, including Northern Ireland. The franchise agreement between the brand and the franchisee, here Papa Johns and Rana Group, is a private contract between the two parties.
The wider Papa Johns UK picture
The Caterer reported at the time of the 20-restaurant agreement that the pizza chain said it was looking to grow in the UK after closing 74 restaurants. The same coverage linked the deal to up to 400 jobs in Northern Ireland over the period. At 20 jobs a restaurant, the full plan implies roughly the same order of magnitude.
No opening date has been published for the fourth Northern Ireland restaurant. The Bangor site leaves 17 of the 20 committed restaurants still to open. More brands in this sector are listed in the fast food franchise listings, and the latest franchise news is on the L’Express Franchise homepage.
