Iro Sushi

About Iro Sushi

Sushi concept Iro Sushi was founded in 2014 by Chhong Sherpa and hit the 30-store mark in September 2025 with an opening in Sevenoaks. In June 2025, Sultan Thakur, a former operations manager at Papa John’s, said Iso Sushi has targeted 50-plus stores by 2027 as it looks to expand across the UK and overseas. “After over nine amazing years with Papa John’s managing operations, I felt it was time to take my career to the next level and open my own business,” he said. “During my search for the right opportunity, I came across a small but promising brand, Iro Sushi, which had 12 branches at the time and big plans to grow across London. I connected with Chhong online, and after our first meeting, he saw potential in my experience and offered me the chance to lead operations and expansion - along with the incredible opportunity to become a franchisee owner of my first branch. With Chhong’s support and vision, I opened my first Iro Sushi branch - a proud moment, marking the start of my journey as a business owner, and now I have three stores of Iro Sushi. From 2023 to 2025, we’ve grown from 12 to 30 branches across London. Now, our sights are set even higher - with a goal to open 50-plus stores across the UK and Europe by 2027.”

Sherpa himself grew up in Nepal and came to London as a student in 2009 without little to his name. The following year, he secured a job as a sushi chef, and while managing two jobs, he also pursued his studies at Maritime Greenwich College. He eventually transferred to South London College, switching his major to Business Management, and started the sushi business while completing his postgraduate studies in Hospitality Management at Westminster College.

Sherpa told London World that he now employs more than 200 workers and that his sushi shops generate a turnover of £1.5m per month, amounting to approximately £18m annually. With a goal of opening ten branches a year, Sherpa said he is determined to expand Iro Sushi to all four countries of the UK. Starting this year, he also plans to expand Iro Sushi into America and Europe. “The US is a huge market, and this will be a real test for me,” he added.

The company said it has a pipeline of 15 further stores in 2026, as it looks to scale to 100 locations by 2030, and will also look at international opportunities. In November 2025, Sherpa told Propel is set to expand into new parts of the UK next year ahead of planned international growth. The majority of Iro Sushi‘s stores are currently in London and the south east - and 2026 will see it expand into Berkshire and Hampshire with launches in Basingstoke, Windsor and Maidenhead. Sherpa, a former sushi chef, also hopes to add to the major cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham - opening multiple locations in each.

He said: “After doing ten in the next year, we will do 20 in the following year and speed up after that. At the moment, 30% of our estate is directly franchised, with another 30% in co-franchising, but our main focus will be more on the direct franchising side going forwards. I have 15-20 franchisees lined up ready to go - it’s just finding the locations. International expansion will be a bit further down the line, but we’re looking to go into Europe, and then to expand into the US and Middle East too. We’re looking to go into any high footfall location, and we already have a smaller format kiosk model, which fits nicely into shopping centres.”

In February 2026, the company partnered with a high street bank to launch a joint venture franchise opportunity as it looks to ramp up its expansion. Through the partnership, aimed at attracting first time franchisees, Iro Sushi said potential partners will be able to access the capital required to open an Iro Sushi store at highly favourable rates. And when the franchisee has the capital to take full ownership, Iro Sushi will sell its share to the franchisee at the original valuation, in order to support future growth. The company said the following month that it will introduce digital kiosks for the first time.

In May 2026, Iro Sushi added five sites to its openings pipeline, which will take its estate to 38 locations and strengthen its presence in existing regions, including the Thames Valley and Home Counties. The following month, the company said it will reach 40 stores by the end of the summer.

In August 2026, Iro Sushi said it is targeting up to 20 Scottish locations after securing its first site in the country. It will open at 249-257 Sauchiehall Street and is seeking further locations and franchise partners in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen as it builds a pipeline for additional Scottish openings.

Why franchise with Iro Sushi

• ✓The company said: “Iro Sushi is one of the most affordable opportunities in the sushi industry. When you invest in Iro Sushi, you get access to world-class training and support that will help you grow your business from day one.” Franchise fee is £15,000 plus VAT while estimated fit out cost is £45,000-£80,000 plus VAT. The company said it has a “proven method of doing business that works and produces successful results”.
• ✓It added: “We have a training programme designed to bring you to a profitable position as quickly as possible. We have training materials to assist you in dealing with whatever comes up while you’re running your business. We have a team dedicated to providing ongoing support to franchises. We will provide you marketing assistance to provide you with proven tools and strategies for attracting and retaining customers.
• ✓“As a franchisee, you can take advantage of the buying power to ensure you get everything you need at significantly lower levels that you could achieve as an independent operator. The biggest reason to buy a franchise is that we have already proven our model and systems. This will help you avoid much of the risk of starting a new business.”

Investment breakdown