Million Pound Menu highlights regional restaurants

Three pop-up restaurants from the region will be appearing in a business themed reality TV show Million Pound Menu which starts at 9pm on Thursday 17 May on BBC Two.

Twelve budding restaurateurs who think they’ve got what it takes to go from pop-up to profit will vie for life-changing sums of money to secure a major investment and turn their dreams into a bricks and mortar reality. Each week two sets of restaurateurs compete for a share of the growing restaurant trade and will be joined by some of the biggest investors in the restaurant world, with millions of pounds to spend between them.

Each new concept is given a three-day trial run in a 40-seater pop-up restaurant in the heart of Manchester to try to win over the paying public and the all-important investors.

They will be rated on their food, service, team-management and brand potential and in one-to-one meetings with investors will need to prove their business plans and financial figures stack up.

David Brindley, head of popular factual at the BBC, said: “It’s a business opportunity like no other: the chance to open your very own restaurant and launch a multi-million pound brand.

“It’s a dream shared by so many but achieved by so few. In this series we’re giving the most exciting and genuinely credible restaurateurs the chance to prove their concept to the people who can transform their lives overnight. With millions of pounds on the table the stakes, and the drama, couldn’t be higher.”

Fred Sirieix, who worked in the trade before moving into TV, said: “I am excited and honoured to be joining the talented team of Million Pound Menu. The UK restaurant scene is booming with creativity and a quality never seen before.

“To play a part in discovering, nurturing and helping the next generation of restaurateurs is an opportunity like no other. I can’t wait for the series to start.”

Jeremy Roberts, the chief executive of Manchester based Living Ventures, a restaurant and bar group with an annual turnover in excess of £100million is one of the investors.