WHEN a newly vacated restaurant space suddenly becomes available in the North West, there's little doubt that Manchester's most voracious brand, Solita, and it's indefatigable frontman, Franco Sotgiu, haven't already sniffed it out and sized it up long before anyone else has had but a whiff.
There's just as much money to be made in Preston, Prestwich, Wigan and Bolton
So, in what is becoming an almost monthly occurrence for Confidential, we can confirm the Northern Quarter-based dirty food pioneers have snaffled up yet another site... hold on... two sites? You're joking? Ok, THREE sites across the North West.
Sotgiu and business partner Simon Pogson, having just put pen to paper on a second site in Prestwich ('a wood fired pizza and craft beer concept'), have today announced the acquisition of chef Paul Heathcote's two sites in Preston, The Olive Press and the adjoining Heathcote's Brasserie, with plans to merge the two sites creating the largest Solita restaurant bar to date.
Heathcote announced his intention to 'do something different' and sell the two sites in February after 21 years on Winckley Square - read here.
The Olive Press, Preston
Solita, Prestwich"Whilst everyone else sees Manchester City centre as the promised land, we see much of Solita's future in the satellite towns," Sotgiu told Confidential. "There's just as much money to be made in Preston, Prestwich, Wigan and Bolton.
"We're very keen to expand further North," Sotgiu continued, "so when Paul asked us if we'd be interested in the site we did the deal in a matter of days.
"We feel Preston has massive potential and are keen to bring Solita to the city as soon as possible."
The announcements follow a busy six months for the duo following their acquisition of the Montpelliers site (behind the original Solita on Northern Quarter's Back Turner Street), alongside the much-touted launch of their 50's New York-styled Solita Steakhouse in Manchester's resurgent Barton Arcade this summer.
Following unbridled success in Northern Quarter following their launch in 2012, Solita opened a second much larger site in Didsbury in 2014, followed by a third in Prestwich within the month.
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