The boss of the Carluccio's restaurant chain which has outlets in Oxford and Bicester has said he is delighted with the group's debut performance on the stockmarket.
Welcoming a pre-tax profit of £3.4m for the year to September 24, managing director Simon Kossoff said the transition from being a private to a publicly listed company had gone very smoothly.
He said: "It has made very little difference to the business. We are still growing at the rate of five restaurants a year and we have not had to raise any more money."
Mr Kossoff added the Oxford Castle branch was operating successfully, despite the development taking a long time to complete.
He said: "It is an exciting area and the perfect place for a Carluccio's."
According to Mr Kossoff, the outlet at Bicester Village was different in that it served a retail destination but was in the top ten performing restaurants in the group.
And despit growing competition from coffee shops, he said the group's format of a restaurant and integrated food shop was a successful combination.
Carluccio's was originally set up by top TV chef Antonio Carluccio who originally took a hand-on role in the chain's development.
However, now the company has gone public, he has taken a much reduced role.
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