Japes

About Japes

Chicago-style deep-dish pizza concept Japes was founded by Aleksander Aleksic and wife Jovana in 2018, having come to the UK from their native Serbia. “To have our visas sponsored we applied to a London Business School incubator, where we had to have a business idea, so we applied with a restaurant plan, and that’s how it all started,” he told Propel.

Aleksandar was previously a professional kayak athlete who competed in the London 2012 Olympics and won the World Cup in 2013. “I stopped kayaking quite young as it’s not a long-term career and I stopped enjoying it,” he said. “Kayaking as an individual sport is all down to you, so it taught you the kind of self-discipline and mentality you need in business, which was very important at the beginning.”

In March 2024, Japes secured its first partner, T4 bubble tea franchisee Ajmeet Singh. He opened the brand’s first franchise location, in Camden Town, five months later. It will be a third Japes site following a debut location in London’s Soho, which opened in 2018, and a further site in Greenwich, which launched inn 2023.

“Based on the numbers we have and customer satisfaction, we can definitely open more than 50 locations in the UK, but I wouldn’t like to have a specific timeline,” Aleksander said. “London is definitely prime for more Japes, but if we had a strong operator in another city, I think we would go for it. We have had a lot of requests for Manchester, but any large city we would look at establishing the brand in.”

In November 2024, former Tortilla and Prezzo operations director Paul Hunter became the second franchisee Japes and lined up a regional debut for the brand. The restaurant is expected to open in December 2024, at The Promenade in Cheltenham. In November 2025, Japes opened its second regional location, in St Albans, with which it is exploring a new QSR format. Aleksic said: “St Albans is going to be a QSR. Regardless of the fact that you may be able to make more money with the full service, there is no denying that QSR is more scalable, so if that works then we will offer that as soon as possible - but we wanted to make sure it worked first.”

Speaking at the Propel Franchisor Showcase that same month, Aleksic said he has four more sites committed - in Windsor, Telford, Manchester and Winchester. He said: “There are massive differences going outside of London. London is a very competitive market but there are many places in the UK where I think Japes can work.”

In August 2026, Japes said it is planning to make its debut in the north west with an opening in Manchester and has applied to open on the former Takk unit at University Green, in the city.

Why franchise with Japes

• ✓While Japes will consider individual sites, it is ideally looking to work with franchisees who have the ability to commit to multiple stores. Fees will depend on the size and potential of opportunity, among other things. As a general rule, however, fees will include a £17,500 franchise per location, a management service fee of 6% of net turnover and a marketing levy of 2% of net turnover (all excluding VAT).
• ✓Including construction and equipment and other initial expenses, the low range total estimate is £159,450 and the high range £259,550. Indicative average weekly sales are £29,751 (net of VAT), 23% cost of sales, weekly Ebitda of £4,096, annual Ebitda of £213,008 and Ebitda margin of 14%. Franchisees get support with development and construction (including site selection and approval), training (including 23-day comprehensive training and ongoing support), operations (including dedicated field support and operational reviews) and marketing (including pre and post opening marketing support and product development and innovation).
• ✓Proven channels are single level and 1,400-2,300 square feet, closed and open kitchens and external seating areas. Proven channels are local high streets and tourist locations. Aleksandar said using a model where stores can be mainly constructed off site – utilising contacts in Serbia to build them for a fraction of the price before shipping them to the UK – allows for low set-up costs. He added that while not ignoring delivery entirely, the focus on Japes will be on offering full-service restaurants.
• ✓“We believe we’re the only pizza restaurant that has full service and is franchising,” he said. “Most others are providing QSR versions. Delivery is interesting, but I believe the best food is eaten as soon as it’s ready. Delivery is also well covered with a lot of competition, so we’re absolutely focused on in store sales, with any delivery a bonus.”