Mowgli Street Food: Record sales at Nisha Katona’s fast-expanding restaurant chain

Mowgli Street Food, the restaurant chain run by celebrity chef Nisha Katona, entered the red despite posting record sales during its latest financial year.

The Liverpool-headquartered eatery has reported a turnover of £30.8m for the year to July 31, 2023, up from £26.8m in the prior 12 months.

However, newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show Mowgli Street Food slipped to an operating loss of £86,026 after previously making a profit of £2m.

During the year the average number of people employed by Mowgli Street Food increased from 633 to 704.

New sites help drive sales at Mowgli Street Food

A statement signed off by the board said: “The company saw sales growth in the year of 15 per cent to £30.9m driven by two new openings in the year and growth of the existing estate.

“The growth comes despite lower VAT rates in the prior year.

“Th company operated 17 restaurants across the country at year end with leases secured or in negotiation for further openings in the coming years.

“Post-year end the company has successfully opened four restaurants, taking the total to 21 trading sites.”

It added” Whilst considerable uncertainty remains around the broader economic outlook fr the UK, the company believes that through delivery of an excellent and consistent offer, a compelling value proposition and effective management controls it can withstand market pressures.”

Private equity backing

The results are the first since private equity firm TriSpan made a significant investment in Mowgli Street Food.

TriSpan’s investments include the likes of Pho and sk:n and has offices in London and New York.

The deal, announced in January 2023, provided an exit for Foresight which first invested in Mowgli Street Food in 2017 when it had just two sites in Liverpool and one in Manchester. 

Nisha Katona founded Mowgli Street Food in Liverpool in 2014 and was later awarded an MBE for her services to the food industry in 2019.

She has also become a well-known food writer and TV chef, appearing regularly on popular shows such as This Morning and MasterChef.