The founder of a popular restaurant chain has shared the story of how he went from being penniless at 45 to a multimillionaire. Simon Woodroffe founded YO! Sushi in 1997, opening the first restaurant on Poland Street, Soho, before expanding across the country.

The restaurant chain has played an integral role in the popularity of sushi in the UK and has popularised the use of conveyor belt sushi in the country. But behind the success lies a tale of hardship and perseverance, with Woodroffe struggling to make ends meet well into his forties. He said on TikTok: "YO! started in 1997 really so that I could survive.”

Despite trying his hand in a variety of fields, Woodroffe found himself struggling financially.

“I found myself in the wilderness at 45 wondering how I could get through the next week really,” he added. “Did I think that I would go on to do other things? Secretly, I did.”

He said previously: “I knew nothing about restaurants. I had had many jobs, from a roadie, bus conductor to TV producer. All sorts. But I had no track record in the restaurant business.”

In order to get the business idea off the ground, Woodroffe was forced to borrow £150,000 against his house, secure a government grant and gain investment from friends.

After launching the first restaurant, the brand and Woodroffe saw a sharp upward trajectory in fortunes, with Simon winning the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999.

Two years after the opening of the first YO! Sushi in Soho, second and third outlets were launched in London department stores Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, which were also tremendously successful.

But after that, problems began to surface, as the next two branches – one in Edinburgh and one in London’s former County Hall – were in the words of the company themselves, “flops.”

“We thought that wherever we opened, people would just pile in, and it wasn’t true,” says Woodroffe.

In 2003, Woodroffe sold YO! Sushi to a venture capital firm, Primary Capital, for £4.5 million, keeping 22.5% of the company’s shares. Woodroffe has gone on to sell his remaining shares, keeping a 1% royalty of gross sales in perpetuity.

YO! Sushi now has more than 500 locations in the UK, and “close to 100 restaurants all over the planet”

From being penniless in the mid 1990s, Woodroffe now has an estimated net worth £50 million.