A PIZZA entrepreneur has described his journey from humble kitchen staff to owner of 17 franchises in just 11 years.

Ahmed El Dessouki started out at Papa John’s in 2003 after settling down in the UK from Egypt.

He now operates takeaway restaurants across Sussex, including Brighton, Portslade and Burgess Hill and his combined businesses turn out 15,000 pizzas a week – 780,000 a year.

Ahmed said: “I have always believed that if you work hard you will get what you want. But to be honest, I never thought I would be so successful.”

His first job was in Reigate and over four years he was promoted to supervisor, manager, area manager and then store manager.

It was Boxing Day 2007 when Ahmed opened his first store as a franchisee in Maidenhead, which he describes as “a day I’ll never forget”.

Ahmed said: “I started as a franchisee at a store which was struggling, which I worked my socks off to make work.

“My wife and I put everything on the line to buy it, maxing out on personal loans, credit cards and business loans to buy it.

“Papa John's stood by me at the beginning with all the support they could offer one of their ex-employees.

“It took me three years to make profit out of it especially as it was at the start of the credit crunch. “After that I bought the second one, which my wife managed.

“I sold the first one and bought Brighton, which was the real turning point for me. I managed to turn it around in less than six months and then added four to my portfolio in 12 months alone.”

His most recent opening on Station Road, Portslade, took record sales in its first week.

As well as achieving success and boosting sales, Ahmed supports younger staff to progress through the company.

He added: “Just recently I have helped to educate and encourage one of our senior branch managers to become a franchisee too. He now has his first branch and he’s delighted.”