Hotcha was a

take-away A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...

restaurant chain that serves

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many ot ...

. The chain was founded by James Liang and Andy Chan in 2011, and is headquartered in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 2014, it was reported that Hotcha was the largest Chinese takeaway chain in Britain provided by the Tsang Corporation. Hotcha went into administration on 18 October 2017.

History

Hotcha was founded in 2011 by James Liang and Andy Chan, the two met in college and previously ran an import business until economic conditions forced them out of the market. The pair chose to start a Chinese cuisine takeaway after learning that there was no national brand occupying the market. In 2014, after opening ten corporate locations, the company announced that it planned to use a combination of franchising and company owned locations to expand its reach in the future. Hotcha generated sales of £4.5 million and began expanding into the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

area in 2015. In October 2016, the company received a £7.5m investment from the Tsang Corporation to help fund further expansion. Hotcha also announced it planned on opening four new sites by year end 2016. That same year, the company was included on the

Sunday Times Fast Track 100 The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 was an annual league table published in association with ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper in the UK. It ranks Britain's 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years. It is published ...

list and its founder was included on

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company, publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John Deb ...

500 list of entrepreneurs. In January 2017, Hotcha opened its 13th location and announced it planned to open as many as 20 additional locations by year end. The company announced that it would move its headquarters, food preparation and distribution centre to a single Bristol location in March 2017. In October 2017 it was reported that officers from

HMRC , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

had raided a number of Hotcha's business locations as part of an investigation into the suspected laundering of 35 million pounds. Hotcha went into administration on 18 October 2017.

References

{{reflist Chinese restaurants Restaurant chains in the United Kingdom