Just days after going into administration, Greek food franchise, Souvlakihut, has been bought by a group of private investors which includes ex-Video Ezy CEO, Daryl McCormack.

Costa Astrinakis, Souvlakihut’s development agent and franchisee in Tasmania, who also runs five Video Ezy franchises, is another key investor.

According to McKormack, plans are already underway to get the franchise back on track, and it is expected that the take-over will be complete before Christmas.

“We’ve already appointed a CEO, Sophie Valkan, and Sophie has extensive experience in franchising, having previously been the CEO for the Midas Group,” McKormack told Franchising.

He said the focus for the immediate future would be to meet with Souvlakihut franchisees as he believes the best way to run a successful franchise is to listen and be empathetic to its franchisees.

“What we’re doing over the next two weeks as part of the due diligence is interviewing all franchisees, and during that process we will listen to what they believe they need, what they would like to see. We will take that on board and one of the advantages we have is that I’m currently a franchisee of Video Ezy as is Costa and so we have real empathy for franchisees. We understand the franchise business from that side.”

McCormack added that while future plans for the franchise will be determined by what comes out of the franchisee meetings, there is potential for growth.

“We’re not hell bent on having a certain number of outlets by a certain date. Our key focus will be to make sure that we’re successful in what we’re doing now and then in time we will expand as we see fit,” he said.

“There’s lots of sites around the country. There’s no shortage of interest in the brand both around the country and internationally, but we don’t want to grow for growth’s sake. We want to grow where it makes sense and where our franchisees are successful.”