Harry Ramsden’s returns to its roots

The brand has granted the franchise for Yorkshire to Vikesh and Dimple Patel, of JVP Ventures, who hope to create 500 jobs over the next five years by opening 50 restaurants and takeaways.

The first are expected to open next year in Leeds, Bradford and York.

Joe Teixeira, chief executive of Harry Ramsden’s, said: ‘‘It has always been a dearly held ambition to bring the Harry Ramsden’s name back to Yorkshire so I am delighted that the first franchise to be awarded fulfils that desire.”

Vikesh, 30, and Dimple, 27, who currently run the Love Coffee chain of coffee shops, said they were aiming to open 50 outlets.

Vikesh said: “Our confidence in the Harry Ramsden’s name is reflected in the fact that our initial investment is being financed personally. In the coming years, we will regularly plough our profits back into the business to achieve our ambition of having 50 new outlets opened within five years.”

Dimple Patel added: “Currently, our main priority is finding suitable locations in major cities including Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield for 100+ seater restaurants, although we are keeping a close eye out for possible sites for the smaller, ‘traditional’ locals.

“The final mix of outlets will be dependent on the location and size of units available, however, I think there will certainly be more opportunities for ‘traditional locals’ in highly populated areas, so I would imagine these will feature heavily in our roll-out plans. I would conservatively estimate that we will create around 500 jobs by 2018.”