Romiley Italian restaurant secures American Express grant funding

The Italian, Romiley is among the independent restaurants in London and Greater Manchester to have secured a share of £220,000 grant funding from a grant scheme backed by American Express.

The scheme, now in its third year, is run by the International Downtown Association (IDA) Foundation in partnership with the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) in the UK, which this year opened applications to independent restaurants in Greater Manchester for the first time.

The Italian in Romiley was one of six Greater Manchester restaurants to secure grant funding, and the only one in Stockport. The family-run restaurant, which opened in 1987, received a grant of over £7,300 from the programme. The restaurant’s Alex Mercogliano told Marketing Stockport:

“We are specifically using the grant to modernise our kitchen with a lot of equipment on its last legs. Plus, staff training courses, new uniforms, and a revamp of our toilets to make them more accessible.”

Five other independent restaurants in Greater Manchester also secured a share of funding from the global Backing International Small Restaurants programme:

• The Baum, Rochdale
• Cibus Pizza, Manchester 
• JS On the Corner, Manchester
• MOST Bakery, Altrincham
• Wax and Beans, Bury

The grant programme aims to support the hospitality sector to invest in growth at a time of rising business costs. According to American Express research in the UK, one third (33%) of hospitality businesses plan to invest in their premises over the next 12 months. The top factors driving this investment are the desire to win new customers (43%) and improve the customer experience (36%). 

Dan Edelman, Vice President and General Manager of UK Merchant Services at American Express, said of the scheme at its launch:

“We’re delighted to once again back small independent restaurants and this year, extend the grant programme to cover venues in Manchester. Our hope is that the grant funding offers a welcome boost to its recipients.”