Couple launch new pizza franchise. Now you can join in, too

Rachael Willoughby and Elliott Richmond, who are the founders of the pizza franchise CasaGees, are celebrating the third anniversary of a business they set up to get them through lockdown.

The couple, who've worked together running their own software business for over two decades, hit on the  idea of surviving lockdown by making and delivering traditional Neapolitan pizzas within a four-mile radius of their home in Cleeve which is near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.

Elliot's always made his own pizzas, including dough, after being brought up overseas and loving the traditional Neapolitan pizzas (no pineapples, though!). Friends often told him he should to start a pizza  business. But he never took the idea seriously, until he had no other option.

Elliot said: “When lockdown came and our business more than halved, we realised now was the time to ‘give it a go’. We were able to set up a simple pre-order system online thanks to our software expertise and that’s where it all began!”

Elliott makes his own dough and with no more than 48 pizzas made per evening, all orders are allocated a time slot, booked via the website. Delivery is kept to a four-mile radius to ensure the pizzas are delivered hot and in a timely manner.

Since then, the business has bloomed and grown with the couple making and delivering pizzas two evenings each week within their local community and making a monthly profit of around £2,000. Earlier this year, they also announced they were starting a franchise to encourage others who love cooking to do the same in their own communities.

To mark CasaGees’ birthday and to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, half of their turnover from deliveries over the Coronation will be donated to one of three shortlisted local community projects:

*May Day in Woodmancote – an annual festival run in the community since 1983, that supports local community causes and charities.  The funds would allow them to book more activities for 2024.

*Stoke Orchard Community Centre – a community hub run by volunteers offering a space for a local toddler group, exercise classes and other events, it has also become a ‘warm space’ for those in the area. The funds would pay for painting, repairs and towards the cost of CCTV.

*Friends of Grangefield School – the Friends fundraise to fund additional activities for the children. They recently discovered their storage shed was no longer weatherproof and infested with mice. The funds would go towards the cost of a new shed.

Local people and regular customers are being asked to vote for the project of their choice and the winner will receive a donation of up to £500 later in May.

Rachael added: “We believe in giving back and that momentous weekend also allowed us to celebrate three years of CasaGees.

“We really can't believe we're celebrating our third birthday! When we originally set up it was as a temporary lockdown venture which we expected to last no longer than three months! However the demand from our lovely customers never stopped which tells us that we have a great product.

“Our next plans involve showing other couples how they can make a second healthy income by copying our proven model.”

Anyone interested in their own CasaGees' franchise can find out more by visiting https://casagees.co.uk/franchise-opportunity