Former Manchester United footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are going global, even though playing careers are over.
The hospitality company fronted by the pair is to roll out its Hotel Football and Café Football brands in mainland Europe and Asia.
GG Hospitality will first expand Café Football into central Manchester before opening its first overseas restaurant in Singapore in 2017.
Hotel Football opened next to United’s Old Trafford home in 2015 and will open its second site overseas at a location so far unknown.
Neville recently announced his intention not to consider any football coaching appointments as he concentrates on his business interests.
He said: “It was very important for us to prove that our brands worked in the UK before considering expansion and, following on from the success of Café Football and Hotel Football Old Trafford, we’re now in a strong position to introduce our brands to a global audience.
“We have several exciting developments nearing completion in Manchester that we’re looking forward to launching, both later this year and into 2017, but we’ve always said we’re an ambitious team and we’re looking forward to the challenge that launching our Hotel Football and Cafe Football brands in new countries presents.”
GG Hospitality is co-owned by Neville, Giggs and Singaporean-based Rowsley. The company is also involved in developing a luxury, 200-bedroom hotel – separate from the Hotel Football brand – in the £200m mixed-use St Michael’s development in Manchester.