Julian Metcalfe, a co-founder of popular coffee and sandwich chain Pret A Manger, will seek a stock market listing to fund 1,000 new US stores of his Itsu chain.

The tycoon, who was reported by The Sunday Times to have made a £215m ($280m) fortune from the sale of Pret, told FN’s sister publication MarketWatch: “We will float Itsu, as we have to, for it to grow to 1,000 stores over the next few years.”