Sheffield's Wake Smith has helped successful pizza company Proove Pizza open its first restaurant in Manchester as part of ambitious expansion plans.
Wake Smith advised on the lease for the new 2,000 sq ft restaurant in South Manchester suburb West Didsbury on behalf of Proove Pizza’s owners who already run a popular restaurant in Broomhill in Sheffield.
The business, which has become an established favourite with Sheffield's diners, is the brainchild of Deepak Jaiswal and his business partner Rob Engledow, who identified a gap in the northern market for a brand to be established that offers authentic, Neapolitan pizza at an affordable price.
They hope the new Greater Manchester restaurant, which employs 20 people, will accelerate brand development and will be the first of many more Proove Pizza sites in the North of England. A second location in Manchester has already been earmarked.
Deepak Jaiswal, co-founder of Proove Pizza, said: “Our vision has always been to develop the Proove brand, to make it synonymous with delicious and authentic, Neapolitan pizzas, here in the UK. We intend to open further outlets across the North of England to expand our offering, whilst keeping our brand values of providing quality product and service, consistent.
“Our new location in West Didsbury, opposite the popular Metropolitan pub, is in an ideal second location for Proove. Burton Rd is an established community of restaurants, boutiques and local businesses.
“A full refurbishment of the unit, which was a former launderette, has been completed. The building work was undertaken by Manchester development company, Urbanise and designed by Sally Trude. The aim was to create a stylish, modern dining space for the people of West Didsbury. The restaurant seats up to 75 diners and has a fully licensed bar.
“We both have a passion for food, and pizza in particular. We’ve spent a lot of time in Naples researching ingredients, techniques and traditions and our aim is to provide quality, authentic Neapolitan pizzas.
“We identified the premises on Burton Road as somewhere we really wanted to launch our second restaurant and we already have our eyes set on a second Manchester location.
“Wake Smith dealt with the lease requirements and made sure everything went smoothly.”
Whilst refurbishing their initial site in Sheffield in 2015, Proove went mobile to create brand and product awareness across Sheffield. The mobile oven still operates and regularly attends parties, pubs, events and festivals across Sheffield and Manchester. Proove Pizza currently employs 25 people in Sheffield at its 60 seater restaurant.
Paul Gibbon, director at Wake Smith's commercial property division, said: “We were really pleased to be able to advise on the lease requirements for Proove Pizza’s first expansion.
“The business model established by Proove works extremely well and they have developed a popular brand in Sheffield which is thriving. I’ve been lucky enough to eat there myself. The West Didsbury opening taps into one of South Manchester’s most popular suburbs.”
As well as pizzas, Proove also serve a selection of Italian starters, desserts and specialties.
