Leading pizza franchise, Papa John’s, has announced franchisee Zulfiqar Haidar – who runs four Papa John’s stores in Scotland with his brother Iftikhar – has been named as the company’s international franchisee of the year.

Zulfiqar Haidar, who also recently won Papa John’s UK franchisee of the year award, was presented with $20K by Papa John’s founder John Schnatter at a ceremony in Orlando, Florida. Zulfiqar plans to reinvest 75% of the prize money to put towards the funding needed to open his fifth Papa John’s before the end of this year, and 25% will go towards setting up Papa John’s Glasgow – a foundation to help charities obtain funding for local worthy causes.

Zulfiqar explains: “Papa John’s has more than 4,800 stores across the world, and by winning the International Franchisee Award we really have put Glasgow on the map! We were selected from hundreds of franchisees due to our sales performance, growth and also community contribution.

“I joined Papa John’s 15 years ago, as the food franchise offered the chance for my whole family to become involved in a business. At the time Papa John’s was in its infancy in the UK, so we set up the very first Papa John’s in Scotland with my mom making the pizzas, my brother looking after the numbers, my sister on customer service, myself, plus a delivery driver!

“These days our Papa John’s family has grown and we employ around 150 local people across our four stores in Glasgow and Paisley. For us, our journey has been as much about the team of people we work with as it has growing a successful and thriving franchised operation. Many of our staff have worked for us for 10+ years!

“My role is changing and I now oversee all the branches. This streamlining has opened up opportunities for employees, as we always promote from within. These days the business is about other people – it’s their livelihood, and we respect and support that in any way we can. For example, we have recently purchased several houses which provide accommodation at a low (not for profit) rental for some of our employees to ensure they have long-term security. Ensuring we look after our big Papa John’s family is motivating for staff and reflects on overall store performance, which in turn means we can put something back.

“Our latest initiative is the Papa John’s Glasgow foundation, where we aim to donate £8K per year to develop an organisation that helps other charities streamline the process of obtaining funding for local causes. We will also encourage and support our staff if they wish to volunteer and get involved.”

As well as being named as Papa John’s international and UK franchisee of the year, Zulfiqar and his team also won Papa John’s marketing award for 2015, which recognized innovation in marketing through contribution to charity via a fundraising for schools scheme. Zulfiqar also won a Scottish Asian Business Award in 2013 and 2016.

Zulfiqar and Iftikhar plan to open their fifth Papa John’s before the end of the year, which will result in the generation of around 20 further jobs within the Scottish community.

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