When James Brown took the reins of Prezzo in the autumn of last year, he found a lot of friends saying the same thing to him. “They would tell me that they used to go to Prezzo all the time but didn’t anymore,” he says with a slight shake of the head. “My response was always the same: ‘Why did you stop?’.”
It’s a question, one suspects, Brown has returned to on a few occasions, and one he’ll be hoping not only to have found the answer to, but also the solution for with Prezzo’s (full name now: Prezzo Italian) new brand identity, which it unveiled earlier this month.
Leading the casual dining chain is a departure from Brown’s previous role – a near decade spent with BrewDog during which he oversaw the growth of Scotland-based brewer’s bar business. In that time, the BrewDog exploded into a huge global entity. Indeed, thanks in no small part to Brown, its bar business now spans multiple countries internationally including the US, India and the UAE.
Prezzo, by contrast, feels lower key, being based only in the UK and having experienced a notable retraction in recent years. In 2023, the Cain International-backed group closed 46 loss-making sites, nearly a third of its estate at the time, as part a strategic review, with more than 800 staff members losing their job as a result. Prezzo argued that soaring inflation had made it impossible to keep all its restaurants operating profitably, and warned creditors that it would ‘likely have entered into administration’ should the restructuring plan not been implemented.
“I thrive in challenging environments, I wanted to take on something tough, and I like running big organisations,” Brown explains, when asked what spurred him to take on this new role. “Some people look and think it’s an odd move, but I wanted it to be a project I can get my hands on to.”
That project, effectively, is a relaunch of Prezzo, created to coincide with the now 96-strong group’s 25th birthday – its first restaurant opened in London in 2000 – and intended to secure the brand’s place on UK high streets for the next quarter of a century, at least. “It’s the next stage,” Brown continues. “What does the next 25 years look like for Prezzo?
“When I first met with Cain, we had a refreshing, open and honest conversation about what I think needed to happen. We were aligned that the brand needed a new energy, to rejuvenate it for the future.
“It’s not as drastic as starting again, but it’s close to it. We’re rethinking the whole thing back to its origin.”
‘Better now and better for the future’
Brown spent several months outside the company before coming on board properly, during which time he took the opportunity to visit a number of Prezzo restaurants across the country to get a feel for the business and what needed to change. “What I learnt is that while we had tired, underinvested restaurants, the people driving the business were happy and passionate and engaged.”
The root of the problem, he believes, is clear. “It’s about modernisation, particularly with regards to anything the customer sees. There was already some good tech in the business, but it’s not something diners would ever notice. I basically wanted to change the whole design.
We’re rethinking the whole thing back to its origin
“The excitement coming to this project was around the ability to have a reset moment in Prezzo’s history. Consumer habits have changed so dramatically that in order for a business to thrive you have to have a modern environment.”
Brown’s approach has been twofold, with some changes implemented straight away and others created over time. “If I could click my fingers and refurbish the whole estate tomorrow I would, but that’s not the reality,” he explains. “I’ve got to think of the business in two frames: better now, as in what incremental changes can be made to make the restaurants better for our customers at the minute; and better for the future.”
For the latter, Brown has brought in Mark McCulloch, a former marketing director at both Pret a Manger and YO!, as CMO to lead the overhaul of the brand alongside him. This includes the implementation of a wide-ranging refurbishment programme that will eventually see each of the group’s restaurants upgraded with a new modern interior that’s been designed by Surface-ID.
Brown describes the interior redesign as a ‘complete back to bones redo’ with new tables, chairs, crockery, drinkware, and artwork. The walls and ceiling have been given a lick of paint too, creating texture and instilling a ‘brighter and cosier’ atmosphere. And the once predominately black and white exteriors have been swapped out for a softer, more inviting sea blue.
What’s in a name?
We’re sat in Prezzo’s restaurant in London’s South Kensington, the first in the group’s estate to undergo the full refurbishment and rebrand. It’s a sunny Tuesday lunchtime; the restaurant’s streetside terrace is full of coffee drinkers and diners grabbing a quick lunch.
The reason to pick this as the first site to unveil the new-look Prezzo brand was obvious to Brown and his team. “There was a perfect Venn diagram of why this was the right site,” he explains. “Firstly, it needed the most investment of our London estate. It was a tired and dated space. Previous refurbishment programmes just tidied up what was already here, it hadn’t started afresh.
“Plus, it’s small, and when you’re experimenting it’s best to do it in a tighter environment. It gives you the space to take more risk.”
People’s awareness of us has lapsed in recent years, and so the reason to adjust the name was around having a clear indication on our marketing and for footfall that something’s changed
The redesigned interior is one of three primary components of the new brand identity. The second, and perhaps the most prominent, is the decision to officially change the name from Prezzo to Prezzo Italian. It might seem a small, almost inconsequential change, but Brown is of the belief that when an underinvested estate such a Prezzo’s is given a refurb, without an accompanying name change it would lack the required impact. “We needed to do something more,” he says.
The change echoes that of rival Italian casual dining group ASK, which rebranded as ASK Italian back in 2010. Brown, however, insists this had no influence on Prezzo’s name change. Were there other names in the mix? Perhaps even the possibility of dropping the Prezzo name altogether?
“To do that then you have to accept that there’s no brand equity left, but I didn’t think that was the case with Prezzo,” Brown responds. “So, we went for a middle ground. People’s awareness of us has lapsed in recent years, and so the reason to adjust the name was around having a clear indication on our marketing and for footfall that something’s changed.”
Alongside this, a new menu has been introduced across Prezzo’s entire estate. The the first variation of this came out in January and has gone through three subsequent incremental changes in the intervening months. Going forwards, the plan is the change the menu once a year.
Brown himself has been heavily involved in the new menu, which has seen multiple dishes removed and others added (it is 18 dishes lighter than previously with both the pasta and pizza sections noticeably shorter). “You’ve got to try and make the journey easier,” Brown says, noting that many of the decisions related to the menu came from conducting multiple shifts both back and front of house in the restaurants when he joined the group.
“A lot of feedback from staff was about service times being stretched by the amount of menu choice. Now, if you look at the number of dishes on our menu compared to our main competitors, we’re much lower, but it doesn’t feel like we are. And it actually still feels quite big.”
As well as the changes to the main menu, the South Kensington restaurant has also introduced a selection of specials that are specific to that restaurant, including vodka pasta; mozzarella sticks coated in hot honey; and a sirloin steak. The dishes are chosen by the restaurant’s GM from a growing bank of options with a plan for every restaurant to eventually have its own specials menu that will also potentially include different wine options and promote a charity partner.
“I wanted to give the managers more power to be their own restaurateur. It gives them more autonomy and belief in the business, and they’re the ones that know they’re customers the best.”
Gauging success
When it comes to the reception of the rebrand, Brown can certainly be happy with the early reaction. Trade at the South Kensington restaurant has doubled in the weeks since the restaurant’s relaunch and Brown believes he’s increased its kerb appeal “a hundred times over”.
More widely, Prezzo has reported a strong start to the year, with its Q1 results showing growth across sales, profit and customer engagement. The group recorded a 9% like-for-like sales uplift during the period, with 132,000 additional covers compared to the same period last year. Key trading highlights included a Blue Monday promotion, which served 34,000 customers; and ‘record-breaking’ trading on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, with the latter setting a new single-day revenue record for the business.
I didn’t come into this role without my eyes wide open about how challenging it was
Brown is clearly happy with the results, pointing out that they aren’t reflective of the new brand identity, but more attributable to changes made to the menu early in the year and the success of new promotions, including a two-hour bottomless premium drinks offer. The group has also just launched a loyalty app called Club Prezzo, which will feature special member-only pricing, and a limited time offer where selected pasta and pizza dishes will be priced at just 99p.
With that in mind, what does success look like in the long term? “Fundamentally, it comes from building shareholder value. It’s why we here.
“I can be passionate as I want about restaurants and hospitality, but that’s the reality. I didn’t come into this role without my eyes wide open about how challenging it was.”
Brown adds that Cain has been fully supportive of his progress so far. “If you hire someone to take on this sort of turnaround then you’ve got to let them do it, and I’ve had that freedom, which is great, while also having support when I’ve needed it.
“They’re incredibly passionate about the business and want it to succeed, and it’s great to have that backing.”
Prezzo’s next 25-year commitment
In the short term, Brown plans to rebrand a further five restaurants as Prezzo Italian with sites in Cambridge, Kings Lynn, Chelmsford, and Aberdeen set to undergo refurbishment in the coming weeks. A further 15 are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
“Things will move quicker as we go along, but I don’t want to rush,” Brown says. “I’ve visited all the restaurants now and I want to make sure the choices of artwork will be correct each time. Details are important to me.”
So far, the South Kensington refurbishment has cost £120,000 and is expected to complete at £150,000 in order to account for an overhaul of the sites downstairs toilets. Given the amount of work going in to creating the new look, it feels like a modest amount. “When you’re starting in a position aspiring to overhaul 96 restaurants, you’ve got to know you can get to end of it and that means you have to be frugal,” is his response to this observation.
The time scale in which to overhaul the group’s entire estate is yet to be set in stone, with Brown unable to confirm whether it will be complete within two years. “It depends on the success,” he continues. “We have aspirations for 20 this year, but I’m aware that could be a stretch. I want them to be done well, though. Quality over quantity. But I’m also very cognisant that I have a big quantity to do.”
Given the scale of the task in front of him, you wouldn’t blame Brown if he planned to halt further expansion while the rebrand was rolled out. But instead, plans are being put in place, with two new sites in the advanced stage of negotiations. “Our success so far this year is giving me confidence, but the market is tough and when we go into these negotiations it’s about getting as much value from landlords as we can.
“We want to be the home of the Italian classics,” he continues, quoting the group’s new tagline. “That’s our next 25-year commitment. And if we do that and do that well, then why wouldn’t we want to take the brand to new places?”