Fats Lazarides is the Founder of Ocean Basket and a serial entrepreneur. He had opened and, sometimes sold off a succession of restaurants, cafés and fast food outlets during his 20s

With as little as R800 in starting capital, Peter “Fats” Lazarides founded Ocean Basket in 1995 – opening the first restaurant in Pretoria.

Under Fats’ leadership, Ocean Basket has become the acknowledged leader among the restaurant brands in South Africa with 60% market share of the sit-down seafood market

Grace Harding is the CEO of Ocean Basket. Grace has more than 30 years’ experience across a number of business disciplines and today runs Africa's largest seafood franchise. She is also an experienced Entrepreneur who previously had her own consulting businesses 

Harding has a background in HR, marketing, people engagement and strategy, her experience also spans leadership development and change management.

Ocean Basket has expanded to a franchise group consisting of 203 stores in 16 countries, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malta and Cyprus, with expansion plans firmly in place for a further 76 stores, many breaking into new markets in Kazakhstan, Oman and Qatar.

The company pulls in system-wide sales of about R2 billion/year on the back of 18 million annual patrons In its supply chain, the business already imports and supplies 6 500 tons of seafood each year to its local and global restaurants

The success of the Ocean Basket brand is confirmed through the numerous consumer accolades it has been awarded over the years. For twelve consecutive years Ocean Basket was named the “Best Seafood Restaurant"