The Manchester-born pizza brand has gone on to open more than 30 restaurants across the UK
Rudy’s in Ancoats opened in 2015(Image: Supplied)
The transformation of Ancoats is remarkable. Crumbling mills have been transformed into trendy bars, restaurants, and artisan coffee shops, all, of course, with a price tag to match.
Its regeneration had to start somewhere though, and there were some early adopters willing to take a punt.
When Rudy’s pizzeria first landed on Cutting Room Square in this up-and-coming neighbourhood in 2015 it was a revelation – and the queues didn’t take long to form, snaking their way around the block.
There’s no denying it was a gamble for founders Jim Morgan and Kate Wilson.
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Pizza obsessives who had been making their own dough in their Manchester apartment and proving it under their bed, the task at hand required a lot more than flour, yeast and water.
Rudy’s in Ancoats opened in 2015(Image: MEN)
Leaving successful jobs in the film industry to pursue their passion for bringing proper Neapolitan pizza to Manchester was a gamble, but say the name Rudy’s today, and there’s that instant recognition across people’s faces.
It’s a true Manchester success story.
It’s gone from one tiny Ancoats restaurant to UK domination. As well as seven Greater Manchester sites, and spots in Leeds, Liverpool and London, in just a couple of weeks time will open its 37th restaurant, this time in Cambridge.
The secret to their success, as you may have guessed, is it’s delicious pizzas, made using the same ingredients and same methods as when the business started.
Rudy’s dough is made fresh daily by their in-house pizzaioli, using Caputo ‘00’ flour which takes over 24 hours to be lovingly made, before being topped with the very best ingredients from Naples, the birthplace of pizza.
Rudy’s dough is made fresh daily by their in-house pizzaioli, using Caputo ‘00’ flour which takes over 24 hours to be lovingly made(Image: Supplied)
This includes San Marzano tomatoes grown on fields at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, and traditional Fior di Latte mozzarella.
This month, Rudy’s Pizza Neapolitan will celebrate their 10-year anniversary – a major milestone for the business that, like many others, has weathered a number of roadblocks, from the pandemic and Brexit to the cost-of-living-crisis and more recently, increases to National Insurance Contributions and Minimum Wage.
Limited-edition specials like the Ancosezze, made with Fior di latte and Campania-smoked provola, and topped with Tuscan fennel sausage and Friarielli roasted Sicilian chilli, sea salt and wild garlic, will be served up on the pass by the original co-founders, creating a real full circle moment for the Manchester-born brand.
“Jim and Kate, the original founders, were always so passionate about true Neapolitan pizza – how could Rudy’s create the most authentic, best-quality pizza possible? Borrowing and learning from the masters in Naples, and bringing a local pizza style from the late 1500s, Ruota di Carro, to the streets of Manchester, they created something magical,” reflects Neal Bates, Managing Director of Rudy’s.
Mission Mars, who people will also know from successful venues Albert Schloss and Albert Hall just next door to Rudy’s Peter Street site, acquired the business in 2017, taking it from a square in Manchester, to locations all over the UK.
Rudy’s was founded by Jim Morgan and Kate Wilson and named after their dog(Image: Supplied)
Walk into any Rudy’s site, and despite the restaurant group’s size, each one still has that small, independent feel. This is, of course, no accident.
It’s a slick operation, with constant tweaks being made and fastidious checks, but as Neal says, it’s come a long way over the last decade to get it to the point of working like a fine-oiled machine.
“We didn’t even have printers when Jim and Kate had the business,” he smiles.
“We used to write the orders on a little check pad and then hook the slips to the front of the pass using a bulldog clip. Then when someone asked for the bill, we would get the calculator out.
Fast forward to today and there’s a number of checks the team do to keep the quality high including asking the chefs to distribute 75g of mozzarella onto a pizza base but without using the scales to check. The same is done for tomatoes, parmesan, and Rudy’s variety of Italian toppings.
Rudy’s use San Marzano tomatoes grown on fields at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, and traditional Fior di Latte mozzarella(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“On the pass, every two hours an alarm will go off on an iPad and whichever pizza is next to come out of the oven, we do a 30-point check on that pizza, so we look at underneath to check it doesn’t have a yellow bottom, if it does that means too much flour,then we taste the tomato sauce to look at distribution,” explains Neal.
“There’s a continuous focus on quality and consistency, we spend a lot of time making sure specials are perfect.”
It’s one of the ways in which Rudy’s has made itself stand out from the crowd, but the last few years haven’t been without some challenges – predominantly how to be agile during the pandemic, and adapt to Brexit changes.
“One of the biggest challenges is that as we’ve grown and we stepped out of the EU it meant Italians were no longer able to come and work in the UK in the same way, so this is where the growth in Neapolitan pizza started to slow down because there were not enough Neapolitan pizza chefs to go around.
“Because we look after our team, pay well and have a real focus on quality, then we still get people who want to come and work for us, be they Italian, Neapolitan, Sicilian.”
Neal Bates, Managing Director of Rudy’s.(Image: Supplied)
In some ways though, like many other businesses, the move to delivery during Covid provided an opportunity, even if at the time it felt very uncertain.
“Before Covid we didn’t do delivery because we weren’t sure Neapolitan pizza travelled well, but it proved incredibly popular.
“This style of pizza that we do cools incredibly quickly. It’s not like Dominoes, who use a lot of science to keep their pizza so hot. But with ours once you get the pizza, you pop the oven on and stick it back in for a few minutes and it’s perfectly crispy.
“The catalyst for growth was delivery, it’s now 20% of our overall business, so it’s been extremely popular, click-and-collect is too, and we have Deliveroo and Uber that we work with now.”
Rudy’s success can also be put down to its ability to stay in its lane and keep prices as reasonable for diners.
“If you’re going out for a pizza and a beer, looking at other casual dining brands, we are less expensive than the majority – you can still get a Margarita for under a tenner.
Rudy’s has even opened its very own state-of-the-art pizza training facility in Manchester for its pizzaioli (Image: Manchester Evening News)
“When changes come into effect, we try to only pass on the bare minimum to the guest. As we’re now growing, we’re able to get more favourable cost prices as we go so we’re now double the size of what we were 18 months ago, and that gives us the opportunity to negotiate better prices.
“We reinvest a lot of money in the team and training so our staff turnover is very low compared to the industry standard, that means if they’re sticking with us for longer, our guest experience scores are better, and people come back more frequently or encourage others to come.
“There are others that are opening Neapolitan pizzerias, and other pizza styles are coming into the market. Nell’s are doing the most amazing job with their New York-style of pizza, which is completely different to ours, and then there’s those doing the more contemporary style with the really high crust, but we’re trying to just stay true to our roots, traditional, Neapolitan pizza.”
The brand is also proud of its status with The True Neapolitan Pizza Association (AVPN) too. The non-profit organisation was founded in 1984 in Naples with the mission to promote and protect the true Neapolitan pizza in Italy and worldwide.
“We are now the largest AVPN accredited brand in the world. We work closely because we want to uphold the tradition which gives us our north star really or building block around any decision we make.”
This month, Rudy’s Pizza Neapolitan will celebrate their 10-year anniversary (Image: Supplied)
Rudy’s has even opened its very own state-of-the-art pizza training facility in Manchester for its pizzaioli – The Academy – upholding the business’ commitment to Neapolitan authenticity.
It’s here that they hold MOTs and masterclasses with staff old and new to make sure their pizza skills are up to standard, and that the final product is upholding that promise of honouring the traditions around Neapolitan pizza.
Neal says part of the brand’s success has also been the influence and support of other Manchester-based businesses, and he hopes Rudy’s is part of that network for new eateries opening in the city.
“Manchester hospitality has such a good network of people that help each other out. Recently we’ve spoken to new or London businesses coming up to Manchester like Blacklock and Flat Iron, and we often get asked about Manchester and the opportunities and we’re more than happy to help and support other businesses.”
While the brand may now just be weeks about from its 37th restaurant opening and has a number in the pipeline for 2026, it has always tried to retain the magic of that first branch in Ancoats.
“I think it helps that the way the pizzerias are designed, they feel very independent, it doesn’t feel like you’re going into a chain,” reflects Neal.
“When we go into the local communities we try to endear ourselves to those communities through charity initiatives and employing locally too.”
Rudy’s birthday celebrations will run from Monday, 20 October until Sunday, 26 October.