| Freshslice Pizza | |
| Type: | Restaurant franchise |
| Location: | Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
| Key People: | Ray Russell (founder and CEO) |
| Industry: | Fast food |
| Products: | Pizza |
Freshslice Pizza is a Canadian pizza chain and franchise founded by Ray Russell in 1999. The franchise operates more than 100 locations across Canada. They are known for their pizza by the slice[1] but also sell whole pizzas.
Freshslice Pizza was founded in 1999 by Ray Russell in Vancouver, British Columbia. Starting with a single restaurant, Freshslice grew to over 100 Locations across Canada.
In 2014 and 2015, Freshslice received a Golden Plate award for Best Pizza By The Slice from the Vancouver-based weekly publication The Georgia Straight.[2] [3]
In 2016, Ray Russell and Freshslice were awarded runner-up for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award through BCBusiness and Ernst & Young (EY) for his involvement at Freshslice.[4]
In 2011, two Freshslice Pizza companies and the owner of two franchise outlets were fined $44,000 (Canadian dollars) for employing illegal workers. Companies owned by Ray Russell and corporate employee Bahman Afshari were all charged by the Canada Border Services Agency after a tip led to the discovery that over a dozen illegal immigrants were employed at Freshslice locations in Vancouver. Afshari was also personally charged.[5]
In 2014 Russell was found guilty by the B.C Supreme Court of wrongful dismissal of a corporate employee. The courts ordered a judgement of over $40,000 (Canadian dollars) to the former employee.