At 16-years-old Mario Aleppo was expelled from school with no qualifications and zero prospects.
He then dropped out of college, fell in with the wrong crowd , and a coffee shop he founded went bust after just six months.
But as the eldest son in a proud family from Mitcham in South London, with strong Italian roots, he was determined to make something of himself.
Fast forward to today and he is now the CEO of Fireaway Pizza, one of the fastest growing pizza chains in the UK, with an estimated value of £18.7 million.
The incredible rags to riches story began in 2016 when he rented an empty shop in Sutton, Surrey, and with just three employees opened his first pizza store.
The impact was nothing short of extraordinary as he used his Italian grandma’s old traditional recipes which she brought over to the UK in the 1950s.
Using a specialist 400 degree wood fired oven, he was able to turn out sumptuous pizzas cooked and ready in 160 seconds.
The unique flavour was created by importing the finest tomato sauce from the mountains of Naples and and the best flour from the mills of Milan.
The brand took off immediately and the launch was quickly followed by new stores in Streatham and Thornton Heath.
Aleppo said: “Growing up I worked at Nando’s, and while I didn’t appreciate it at the time, it was a great learning curve for me. I learnt a lot in a short space of time. I got my hands dirty in the kitchen, saw the potential and wanted it for myself.
“I knew there was a gap in the market for a traditional fast cooked pizza, furnished with the best, fresh toppings so decided to go for it. I bought the ovens from Rome, the flour from the Amalfi coast, the tomatoes from Naples and the desserts from Sicily.”
Now the chain has 169 stores across the UK and Ireland, with an average take of £12 000 a week.
The awards have quickly followed and in 2019 Fireaway were winners of the Small Pizza Chain Award at the Pizza and Pasta Awards, then Mario was awarded the Rising Star Award, in 2021 and in 2022 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
He now has market leader Domino’s, which has around 1,352 stores in Ireland and in the UK with a turnover of £374 firmly in his sights., particularly as rival Papa Johns hit the buffers last year, closing more than 40 underperforming stores following pre-tax loses of £19.9 million in 2023 and £4.1 million in 2022.
“That’s is where we want to be and to achieve that, we need even more investment so we can keep expanding. We want to be snapping at the heels of Domino’s.”
Aleppo, 35, still works 24/7 but success has come with benefits and he has been able to buy his mum her own home, plus another house nearby for himself and afford a flame orange Lamborghini. But he is also generous with employees giving out free shares in the company to reward employees for their loyalty.
With turnover nudging more than £14 million last year he is now opening stores in Dubai, Portugal and Turkey. “We have a recipe for success and the plan is to keep expanding and I want to get to 400 stores in the UK. I was very proud when we opened our 150th store just seven months ago , it shows you what a bit of hard work and dedication can achieve. I think I’ve come a long way from selling sweets in the playground !”
