Mitch Renshaw, founder and majority shareholder of Sqew discussed his journey from opening the first store in Leeds four years ago to now expanding to Manchester.

Mitch emphasised the authenticity of his Lebanese and Syrian shawarma, achieved through relentless improvement and customer feedback.

He said: “it was 10 years ago that I put pen to paper on the business, and I called it Middle East feast. And that was the 21st of January, 2015 and I was thinking about it way before that. And it was because you couldn't really get authentic Arabic shawarma in Leeds or in the North of the UK.”

Sqew founder Mitch Renshaw outside Manchester location | National World

placeholder image — Sqew founder Mitch Renshaw outside Manchester location | National World

Adding: The main thing that taught me it was authentic back then, was a Lebanese garlic sauce called Toum which translates to garlic in Arabic. And it's like a mayonnaise without the egg, with loads of garlic in it. And it's like the true, authentic taste of Arabic shawarma is in that garlic sauce. And so I started tinkering and making that at home, and it kept splitting, and I couldn't get it right, and I just kind of decided, then I'm going to do this.”

Despite making authentic Shawarma, Mitch is yet to travel to Lebanon but hopes to visit soon.

He said: “I want to go see how everything's made. I want to get some inspiration from some amazing, authentic places over there. And I want to bring what I learned back.

Mitch now has two sites in the UK located in Manchester and Leeds, but he doesn’t plan to stop there.

He said: “I'm going to build a 200 site operation, that master franchises globally.”

Adding: “I can see how that sounds as ambitious, but it isn't ambitious. It's not ambition that I'm chasing. I just think that it’s my ambition to do something that I love every day, which is what I'm doing. I don't intend to quit or give up.”

Whilst at Sqew I tried a delicious falafel shawarma which is honestly probably one of the best I have ever had.

If you’re planning on visiting Sqew (you definitely should), then Mitch suggests their authentic range.

He said: “I would stick to what's called the authentic range. We call them the authentic one, and it's how shawarma is supposed to be eaten in the Levantine regions.”

Adding: “So, authentically, you would eat a chicken shawarma with extra garlic pickles and fires inside the lamb shawarma.”

Make sure to head down to Sqew located in Deansgate for an authentic taste of the Middle East!