Italian back on the menu in York

02/02/07

Yorkshire Bank has funded the £500,000 expansion of Luigi's Italian Restaurant in Upper Poppleton in order to meet increasing demand.

Since opening two and a half years ago, Luigi's Italian Restaurant in Upper Poppleton has been a favourite haunt for York locals and backed by Yorkshire Bank's financial solutions centre the restaurant capacity has now increased by a further 50 per cent.

Husband and wife restaurant owners, Aisling and Angelo Gioiello, have been in the restaurant trade for 20 years and are delighted with the support from their local business bank. Aisling explains: "The restaurant scene in York is very competitive and we've had to turn customers away - even the regulars.  We got to the stage where we couldn't pack any more people in so we've extended the dining area to create some more space.

"The team at Yorkshire Bank understood our business and were able to make their decision to support us very quickly so we could minimise disruption and get the restaurant's doors open again as fast as possible."

The former gardener's cottage has been transformed into an 110 seat restaurant. The £500,000 loan has also enabled the Gioiellos to extend the conservatory at the rear to provide a year-round seating solution and effectively double the dining area.

Yorkshire Bank works with many small businesses in York and advised the Gioiellos on the best way to fund the expansion in line with their business strategy. 

Andrew Kerley from Yorkshire Bank explains: "We work with many trading businesses including restauranteurs to help them to deliver their expansion needs.

"We are based locally in York so were able to work very closely with the Gioiellos to understand their business needs and deliver the solution they needed to respond to the rise in customer demand. They have a very strong product, service and business strategy and we are convinced this is a sound investment.

"The team worked very quickly to design and deliver a very flexible funding package that will continue their business success in 2007 and beyond."

Aisling Gioiello said: "The support we've received from Andrew and Yorkshire Bank means we can open the flood gates to all the people in York who keep coming back for Italian!

"We put a lot of the increased demand down to people wanting to get out of the city centre and physically 'go' to a new destination - albeit nearby - to make their dining experience more of an outing or occasion. The loan has also helped us to prepare for the changing smoking legislation expected this year by providing high quality indoor and outside covers."