Poptata

The Poptata story began in May 2015 with a temporary gazebo set up at London’s Portobello Road market over the weekend. Marco and Luca wanted to share their passion for Fries with Londoners, they knew they would love them.

Poptata serves up the most delicious chips and cheesy fries in London, with a permanent location at Boxpark Croydon and Portobello Road. An instant neighbourhood fixture, they welcome people from all over the world who gather together to enjoy a different kind of fries.

Marco works at the business on a full time basis and plans to employ a further four employees. He had previously worked in the luxury hospitality industry for 14 years when he noticed a gap in the market for luxury chips in London.

They started with a single gazebo, selling 10 portions of fresh hand cut chips a day. The turnover in their first year was £98,954.00. And with Marco working only 3 days a week, their turnover hit £82,865.00 in the following seven months, from 01st June 2016 until 31st December 2016.

Marco faced numerous challenges when starting out: in the beginning nobody understood the concept and people would mock the fact that they only sold chips. With patience and consistency, Marco secured contracts at festivals, including BST Summer Time in Hyde Park, and had people queuing for 40 minutes for a portion of their chips, selling up to 2,000 portions a day.

In the future, Marco’s plan is to open one further shop in 2017 and more in 2018 with the support of investors.

Marco has received mentoring from The Startup Loans Company throughout his journey, finding the advice and support incredibly useful in establishing and growing his business.