At a glance
- L’Osteria is acquiring a majority stake in Pizza Pilgrims to support its growth, focusing on international expansion in Europe and further expansion in the UK.
- Pizza Pilgrims will maintain its independence as a brand, with Gavin Smith and Sophie Gilchriest stepping up as CEO and CFO respectively, while founders Thom and James Elliot continue their involvement.
- The partnership aims to leverage L’Osteria’s experience to enhance Pizza Pilgrims’ business and expand their Neapolitan hospitality to more locations.
The deal will see Pizza Pilgrims partner with L’Osteria as it looks to embark upon its next stage of growth, including international opportunities in Europe and further ‘measured expansion’ in the UK.
“We are so excited about our partnership with L’Osteria – and the opportunity it presents for the business that we love and our wonderful teams,” says Thom and James Elliot, who launched Pizza Pilgrims back in 2012.
Under the new partnership, L’Osteria, which currently operates UK sites in Bristol and Southampton, and Pizza Pilgrims will remain independent brands.
Pizza Pilgrims, which currently operates 25 sites across the UK, will continue to be led by Gavin Smith and Sophie Gilchriest, who will be promoted to CEO and CFO respectively.
Thom and James will also remain involved full time in the running of the business.
“We have constantly strived to make Pizza Pilgrims a better business every day since we started out on our market stall in Soho – and we would like to thank our longstanding board and all of our outgoing investors for their support and shared wisdom over that time,” the pair continue.
“The opportunity for us to move forward and learn from the vastly experienced team at L’Osteria, as well as McWin, is huge.
“We are delighted that Gavin and Sophie, who have been part of the business for many years, will be stepping up into their new roles as CEO and CFO respectively to lead the business into its next chapter alongside ourselves and the senior management team.
“There is undoubtedly strong cultural alignment between the two businesses, and we’re really excited about the future – for us this is a real ‘one plus one equals three’ partnership.
“Together, we will continue to nurture the inherent Pizza Pilgrims spirit, whilst putting into action our clear aligned vision to deepen our Neapolitan hospitality and bring it to a growing band of Pilgrims fans both at home and abroad.”
L’Osteria opened its first site in Nuremberg in 1999 and operates more than 200 restaurants in total across 10 European countries including Austria, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg.
McWin acquired a majority stake in the brand in 2023 under a deal intended to support the chain’s growth in the DACH region as well as multiple new and existing European markets.
“Pizza Pilgrims is a strong, successful brand with a clear Italian profile and an excellent team – both of our brands combine a high-quality standard as well as the passion for Italian cuisine and the joy of Italy,” says Jacek Trybuchowski, CEO of L’Osteria.
“The investment marks another milestone on our journey of becoming ‘European Champion in Casual Dining’.
“Together with Pizza Pilgrims team we are looking forward to entering the next phase of growth.”
Pizza Pilgrims revealed back in October that it had appointed advisors to explore strategic and investment options for its next stage of expansion.
More recently, the Neapolitan-inspired pizzeria chain reported that it will add a further four sites to its estate in the next 12 months and is planning to grow to 38 restaurants by 2027 following record revenue of £34.4m in the year ended 30 June 2024, a 20% increase on the previous year.
EBITDA rose 21% to reach £2.9m (2023: £2.4m), with the group noting that within this calculation is an expense relating to a share-based payment provision of £121,000.
Overall, Pizza Pilgrims swung to a pre-tax loss of £0.1m over the period, a 116% decrease on the £0.7m profit reported the year before, which it said was largely driven by the closure of its Oxford site in January 2024.