YO!

About YO!

Formerly known as YO! Sushi, YO! owns, operates, and franchises more than 100 conveyor belt sushi restaurants across the globe. Founded in 1997, by British entrepreneur Simon Wooroffe, the current owner is Mayfair Equity Partners and members of the YO! senior management team. The restaurants are mostly based in the UK, with the majority in London, and around 20 restaurants franchised overseas.

In 2017, it acquired Toronto-based Bento Sushi, the second-largest sushi brand in North America and the largest in Canada, trading from more than 600 locations, while supplying sushi to a further 1,700 partner sites. The following year, it acquired West London-based Taiko Foods, the first manufacturer of sushi for the UK supermarket industry.

In 2019, YO! agreed a merger with SnowFox, one of the largest operators and franchise owners of sushi kiosks in the US, managing circa 700 full-service sushi bars in supermarket, wholesale, university and corporate settings across 30 US states. Towards the end of 2021, Snowfox halted plans for a £750m stock market listing and begun talks with prospective buyers following a string of takeover approaches, although the possibility of a listing emerged again early in 2022.

At the time, Snowfox operated only 65 YO!-branded restaurants, having closed a significant number of sites the previous year as part of a restructuring. 2022 saw YO! open kiosks in several UK Tesco stores across the UK. In November 2022, managing director Christian Haas told Propel the business plans to double its estate of kiosks in UK supermarkets in 2023 with the opening of another 200 sites over several brands, including YO!

Propel revealed in February 2023 that YO! would open its first franchise restaurant in March 2023, at London Luton Airport, and in June 2023, it opened its 300th in-store sushi kiosk with Tesco, with plans to add a further 35 sites this year.

In July 2025, YO! launched a new restaurant design at its site in Manchester’s the Trafford Centre, which it described as a “new chapter” for the business. The restaurant within Selfridges has relaunched with a “bold new design that brings the buzz of Tokyo nightlife to one of the UK’s most iconic shopping centres”.

In August 2026, Wonderfield Group said it is to accelerate the expansion of YO! with nine new kiosk openings within Tesco stores to build on record-breaking sales across its supermarket estate. A group spokesman said: “The expansion follows a period of exceptional growth for YO!, with its Tesco kiosk network delivering record-breaking sales. The continued success of the supermarket format reflects wider consumer trends, with demand for convenient, premium grab-and-go meals continuing to rise.”

Carl Webber, managing director of Wonderfield Group, added: “The appetite for fresh sushi has never been stronger, and these nine new openings represent another important step in our growth strategy. Working alongside Tesco allows us to bring the YO! experience to even more communities across the UK, while creating fantastic opportunities for ambitious franchise partners.”

It came after Wonderfield, in April, reported a contraction in its YO! business in the year to 31 March 2025. The company reported it closed ten YO! restaurants in the UK during the year and that turnover across these restaurants decreased from $105.7m to $75.5m. Overall, Wonderfield made a pre-tax profit of $47,216,000 in the year, reversing a $97,607,000 loss from the period before, which was a 70-week period. Turnover dropped to $671,722,00 from $729,648,000 the year before.

At the year-end, it ran 4,522 kiosks (2024: 4,242) of which the majority - 3,956 - are franchised. During the year, it more than doubled the number of Japanese franchised kiosks it operates in the UK with 299 net openings and converted many of its UK kiosks from managed to franchised. Turnover from the global estate of kiosks, largely royalty income, increased from $158.5m to $204m. At the year-end, its YO! estate in the UK consisted of more than 50 restaurants and more than 370 kiosks.

Why franchise with YO!

• ✓Starting a YO! franchise requires a significant investment, and potential franchisees interested in opening a single restaurant can expect it to cost around £250,000-£550,000. For franchise owners keen to open a multi-store franchise, you can expect to invest around £1m for five units. YO! has opportunities for new franchise territories across the world as it is expanding across many new countries. Having a background in the food and drink industry is highly recommended, although suitable franchisees without this background may still receive training to help them develop the skills needed.
• ✓Potential franchise owners should also have a strong interest in Japanese cuisine. YO! provides comprehensive training and support for its franchise partners, with training workshops for franchisees as well as their general and project managers, head chefs, and other key figures in the business. Managers are usually given a month of training, while other team members get up to a week of training. These workshops are designed to help understand the brand’s core values and processes, and is further supported with an on-site visit from the YO! team to help assess how to create an effective operation.
• ✓Once the restaurant has been established, YO! continues to provide detailed support, with in-house training for staff, help with design and project management. The brand also provides assistance with launching promotions and marketing campaigns and continues to help at every stage of the business.