Raphael Miolane, CEO of pizza hut UK & Ireland, explains the company’s expansion plans in the UK and Ireland
In 2001, our first franchisee opened his first pizza hut delivery store in Northwood, London. 15 years on, this franchisee now runs five huts and we now operate 700 huts across the uk and ireland. around 270 are in a restaurant format and the balance a mix of delivery and express units.
As a brand, we’ve come a long way since our first hut opening and i believe we have achieved this through the strength of our continued relationships with new and existing franchisees, coupled with a constant focus on innovation, both through new unit formats and new menu items driven by consumer insights.
In 2012, we launched a new incentive scheme for both new and existing franchisees, offering them up to £65,000 to help them open new locations. as part of this launch, we set some ambitious expansion targets - to grow our portfolio across the uk and ireland, employ more people and invest a total of £20 million into our operations and local communities.
Four years on, we are proud to have achieved these ambitions, but we believe this is only the beginning. our franchise scheme has proven popular, helping us to grow our delivery hut estate by more than 100 locations in just three years. 59 franchise entities have opted for the scheme to grow our brand and their individual businesses and, as a result, we paid out £4.7 million in incentives.
Over this time we have built long-term business partnerships with our franchisees. our goal is to always be a collaborative franchisor and ensure we are constantly involving and interacting with our partners, so that we can learn from them and gather ideas to help drive the business forward in the best direction.
We have a network of experts who are constantly available to help franchisees get the most out of their businesses. for instance, our pizza hut delivery franchise council is made up of existing franchisees whose role it is to offer support and advice to colleagues and make sure our franchisees are never alone. through these relationships and support network, we make sure we develop solid, working partnerships that will last well into the future.
As well as having strong franchise partnerships, it’s important we continue to maintain our attractive offerings to our customers, so that potential franchisees continue to want to invest in us and our brand.
We have recently opened our latest pizza hut express unit in Stratford Westfield. this is the 10th store of its kind and is a quick service format that’s perfect for customers who are demanding fast, economical, delicious pizza and more on the go.
Our Stratford location represents a significant landmark for us and already we’re seeing strong demand for this type of asset, so much so that we plan to open at least another 50 express units by 2020.
At the same time, we continue to focus on our menu offerings, ensuring we are constantly innovating to meet changing consumer tastes and preferences. recently we launched a series of new seasoning flavours for our legendary cheesy bites pizza, including garlic, spicy and bbq sprinkles, which aim to tap into the growing trend for customisation.
In May we will continue this trend and launch a new range of spicy sauces, an optional extra for our pizzas. again, this meets our consumers’ demand for customisation, while also providing spice lovers with a series of different spice levels, including our very spicy naga chilli flavour, which is not for the faint hearted.
The growth opportunity for our business remains strong and we are excited for what the future holds. the takeaway pizza market represents a clear opportunity for people considering a new business venture - this decade, expenditure on takeaway food is expected to grow to £7.6 billion, according to euromonitor international.
Through the strength of our franchise relationships and our continued focus on innovation, we believe we can capitalise on this demand and grow our brand. it is through this strategy and focus that we believe we can open at least 200 new pizza hut delivery units by 2020.