luke johnson

By JOE TAGER

New beginning for Feng Sushi  

In June 2010 Feng Sushi’s ownership changed hands after Luke Johnson bought a majority share of the business. Luke is widely considered one of the UK’s leading hospitality and leisure entrepreneurs, and it is a huge accolade to Feng Sushi that an investor of Luke’s calibre has decided to invest in us. Luke had the following to say about his investment in Feng Sushi: “I have been a customer of Feng Sushi for several years, and have regularly used the delivery service from the Notting Hill branch. You could say that I like the company so much that I want to be a part of its future growth and I believe that there is huge potential, particularly in the online booking and delivery areas of the business.”

“I have much faith in Silla and her teams’ abilities. Silla was originally the head chef and continues to help develop the menus for Feng Sushi; it is her insistence on only serving seasonal and sustainable dishes, recruiting and training top quality staff and developing a warm relationship with all customers, whether eat-in or delivery, that I believe sets Feng Sushi apart from the competition.”

Currently, Luke is the Chairman of Risk Capital Partners Ltd, a private equity house, whose current investments include Giraffe and Patisserie Valerie.

Famously, Luke took control of Pizza Express with partners in 1993. He grew the business from 12 owned restaurants to over 250. He sold out in 1999 and started Signature Restaurants, which owned The Ivy and Le Caprice, as well as the Belgo chain, selling the business in 2005. He started the Strada restaurant concept from scratch and took the chain to 30 units and sold it in late 2005.

Luke was Chairman of Channel 4 Television Corporation from January 2004 to January 2010. In that time he appointed a new CEO and saw the organisation enjoy record ratings and revenues.

Luke also some-how manages to find the time to write an insightful weekly column on entrepreneurship for The Financial Times and a monthly column for Management Today.