Fifty years since its founder, Peter Boizot, introduced pizza to the UK, PizzaExpress, the UK’s largest casual dining brand, is targeting further growth. PizzaExpress Delivered, which will initially be available in select central London locations, promises a fresh approach to the pizza delivery market.
With plans to open 150 dedicated delivery sites across the country over the next five years, while offering the service from some of its existing restaurants, it’s anticipated that 2,500 new jobs will be created.
Style on scooters
Taking the core PizzaExpress experience beyond the walls of its restaurants, waiters, rather than traditional delivery drivers, have been hired to provide the best customer service. Classically Italian in style, and environmentally conscious, the uniformed waiters will arrive on branded, battery-powered scooters – both low on emissions and noise.
Order tracking
Customers can follow the progress of their order online thanks to GPS tracking, and a text will also be sent to the customer when the driver is two minutes away. Apart from allowing customers to see exactly where their food is in real time, rather than when it’s simply “on its way”, the GPS feature also means the business has a clear overview of where its bikes are, whether waiters have capacity to take on more orders, and how long it will take them to complete a journey – all allowing for a more efficient service. For easy ordering, returning customers will also find their favourites have been remembered.
Enormous growth opportunity
Richard Hodgson, PizzaExpress CEO, said, “We’ve been making the best pizzas for 50 years and have built a hugely popular brand. This is an enormous growth opportunity and, by extending what we’re already famous for – delicious pizza, great service and excellent value – we can bring about a step change in delivery. The pizza delivery market is dominated by American-style, thick-crust pizzas. Thanks to advances in technology, which mean we don’t have to compromise on the quality of our thinner-crust pizzas when in transit, we can now proudly bring to customers’ homes the pizza they love, and in our own unique style.”
Ensuring customers can enjoy their PizzaExpress favourites, the menu is almost identical to the restaurant menu, with a few small tweaks to allow for dishes that did not stand up to delivery in trial.
From 21st September, the first PizzaExpress restaurants to offer delivery will be London’s Thayer Street and St Bride Street, which will deliver to select postcodes in Central London.
Customers can order online here for delivery between 11.30am and 11.30pm.