Mexican restaurant group Tortilla has secured £2.25 million in bank finance from Santander Corporate Banking.

The funding comes after Tortilla’s £3.5 million investment from Quilvest Private Equity in December 2011.

Brandon Stephens, who founded Tortilla in 2007, says that the cash provides the group with the capital necessary to execute its objectives for growth, allowing it to pursue ‘a number of exciting expansion initiatives within the M25 as well as outside of London’.

Stuart Donald, director at Santander Corporate Banking adds, ‘We are excited to be able to support Tortilla through its next phase of growth. The strong management team and proven business model makes Tortilla an ideal fit with Santander’s commitment to support strong and viable UK companies as part of our wider aim to become the SME bank of choice.’

The company also announced that it has secured three additional sites at The Crown Estate’s 460 Strand site in central London, adjacent to Trafalgar Square, at Bluewater in Kent, and in Hammerson’s WestQuay Shopping Centre in Southampton.

The Bluewater and WestQuay locations will be Tortilla’s first restaurants outside of London.

Russell Loveland, senior asset manager at Lend Lease, co-owners and managers of Bluewater, says, ‘Tortilla is a great addition to the line-up of brands in Bluewater’s Wintergarden, which re-opens on October 9 following a multi-million pound redevelopment.

‘Tortilla is an exciting brand that not only provides customers with great food, but does so with a real sense of theatre.’