The founder of Mowgli Street Food has opened a new headquarters in Liverpool in the same building she began her legal career.
Chef and former barrister Nisha Katona has taken 3,405 sq ft of space at Bruntwood Works’ 18 Queen Avenue.
The space was previously the home of Chavasse Court Chambers, where she spent more than 20 years working as a child protection barrister. The firm has now relocated to nearby 24 Queen Avenue.
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The company currently operates venues in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leicester, Leeds, Cheshire, Cheltenham, London, Glasgow, Preston, Bristol, Edinburgh and Brighton.
The headquarters features space for new recipe development, online retail and the work of the Mowgli Trust charitable foundation.
Mowgli Street Food is backed by private equity firm Foresight Group and posted a turnover of £8.5m for the 12 months to July 31, 2021, down from £11.3m. Its pre-tax losses also widened from £3m to £3.2m over the same period.
Nisha Katona founded Mowgli 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.
She said: "It has been a real whirlwind since I opened the very first Mowgli on Bold Street seven years ago but, as we continue to expand to other locations, we are proud to be one of the first national chains to come out of Liverpool, creating jobs and community wealth up and down the country.
"An incredibly loyal customer base and excellent Mowgli team have allowed the business to thrive and that success meant we needed a new base of operations that would give us a platform for future growth.
"It means that the head of London businesses need to come to Liverpool to meet me, and that makes me very proud.
"When I discovered that we might be able to move into my old chambers, I jumped at the chance.
"Everything has come full circle and it feels tremendously exciting and also slightly surreal to be returning to my old chambers with our thriving street food business.
"We’ve worked closely with Bruntwood Works for some time to understand how we may be able to use the space and the timescales around making that happen.
"We are really excited to move into our new home and continue to plan for the bright future that lies ahead of us."
Tony Reed, head of commercial at Bruntwood Works in Liverpool, added: "Queen Avenue is one of Liverpool’s most beautiful and dynamic addresses and the arrival of Mowgli, a successful independent business born in Liverpool, feels like a perfect fit.
"We very much look forward to welcoming Nisha and her team and I’m sure they will be an extremely popular addition to the Queen Avenue community."
