- Pizza Express
PizzaExpress is a chain of
pizza restaurant s originating in theUnited Kingdom . Its commercial formula has been a combination of stylishly-designed eateries with medium-high end prices. The chain was founded in1965 byPeter Boizot the first restaurant opened inWardour Street inLondon with a pizza oven and chef imported fromItaly . The chain expanded, initially as a franchise operation over 28 years . Then the company was brought to the London Stock Exchange by way of a reverse into a small shell company. Organised by Messrs Luke Johnson, Hugh Osmond and David Page this was in 1993. Starting with 23 company owned stores and 45 franchisees valued at 23m, they expanded both organically and by buying in the franchisees and so by2003 , ten years later ,there were more than 300 restaurants in the UK, as well as outlets in the Republic of Ireland, Spain and France where it is branded as Pizza Milano. PizzaExpress branded pizzas, salad dressings and doughballs are also available to buy in shops and there are also some 72 restaurants in 18 countries, mostly branded as Pizza Marzano. The current head office of PizzaExpress is located in Hunton House,Uxbridge , England.It was taken private by
private equity groupCinven in 2007 for 900m .The sale of its Pizza Veneziana raises a significant level of funding for the
Venice in Peril Fund .Despite the founder being from
Peterborough , England, Peterborough has only recently gained a Pizza Express in early 2008.External links
* [http://www.pizzaexpress.com/ Pizza Express official website]
* [http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/news-releases/2000/peterboizot.html Loughborough University - Year 2000 News release]
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