Pizza Express toasts ‘strong’ reopening as it seals £335m refinancing
Pizza Express today hailed “strong” trading after reopening its restaurants following lockdown as it sealed a £335m refinancing deal.
The pizza chain today confirmed it had concluded its long-term financing plan, consisting of five-year bonds, and was now a “fitter” company after emerging from Covid lockdowns.
It comes after a challenging year for the restaurant group that saw it cut more than 2,000 jobs and close 73 sites.
Chief executive David Campbell, who joined the business in November and previously led Wagamama, said the past year had been “transformational” amid changes during the latest lockdown period.
“We took the opportunity during lockdown to focus on improving parts of our business which were still open — specifically dine-out and retail — and our teams have done a brilliant job,” he said.
“In delivery, we renewed our partnership with Deliveroo and with our increased operational focus and additional marketing, have outperformed the Deliveroo Index every week this year.”
He added that the chain has seen “good and consistent trade in our pizzerias” since reopening for dining in from May 17.
Pizza Express has also hired 1,000 new staff members to help drive its rebound following the pandemic.
“We are very excited about the future on the back of strong results in the first half of 2021, the elimination of third-party discounting, and an exciting pipeline of initiatives for the rest of 2021 and beyond,” Campbell added.