History suggests that Pizza Express should stick to what it does best - family-friendly casual dining - says Stefan Chomka
When I heard that Pizza Express was making the move into QSR with a new smaller format my first thought was ‘how interesting’. These thoughts soon turned into scepticism, however: after all, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?
If there’s one thing Pizza Express can’t be accused of is being afraid to try new things, yet its track record with doing so is probably best descried as sketchy. I remember well its move into the by-the-slice category with Za’, its ill-fated grab-and-go concept that launched in 2019 and lasted just nine months, and its play for younger diners and office workers three years later with its range of pizza wraps. In 2024 it opened its first Pizza Express Pod, a grab and go concept, and while that has since grown to three sites it has hardly gone gangbusters.
Enter its Brixton restaurant, a new QSR concept that is smaller than a typical Pizza Express restaurant and which has touch screens for customers to order on and options such as meal deals that undercut its traditional casual dining restaurant. The design is different, leaning into the brand’s live music heritage, and the focus is as much on takeaway as it is on dining in. Not a Pod or a full-scale restaurant, this is something that sits squarely in the middle.
Brands like Pizza Express have a well-established position in the market that has become almost muscle memory for customers and trying to change that is not only challenging but is almost always a folly
Stefan Chomka
Given the well-documented travails of the casual dining sector, and the relative resilience of QSR, most notably in the field of fried chicken, on paper this pivot has merit. I can see management teams discussing how Pizza Express needs to get in on the action of the lunchtime trade and possibly shed off some of its family-friendly image in the process to better compete with the new wave of casual pizza spots opening across the country. And yet it doesn’t feel right.
Brands like Pizza Express have a well-established position in the market that has become almost muscle memory for customers and trying to change that is not only challenging but is almost always a folly. Will shaving 10 minutes off the time it takes to order and eat a pizza make a difference? I’m not sure time, or ordering via waiting staff or a kiosk, are key factors in the Pizza Express experience for most people.
As James McAllister points out in his comment, a smaller format will be easier for Pizza Express to scale, with lower rents, rates and fit out costs additional advantages, but it also sees it move into the territory of arguably more innovative and interesting indie operators that can change their menus with much greater ease and respond much more quickly to prevailing trends.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-innovation and I’m well aware brands need to move with the times, but being something you’re not rarely ends well. Consider attempts by other well-established casual dining brands to open smaller, quicker formats, Cafe Rouge Express, Little Frankie’s, Nando’s Nino, Fridays and Go, all of which have flopped. Even Pizza Pilgrims’ attempt with Slice didn’t work and it’s fair to say the jury is still out on Honest Burgers’ Smash + Grab format, which is yet to move beyond one site (although Honest has said it wants to expand it).
Casual dining is having a tough time, so the need more than ever is for brands to focus on what they do best, build on why they have been successful, act on aspects that are dragging them back, but ultimately ensure that their core customers are at the heart of what they do. A QSR Pizza Express, for me, doesn’t feel like that.
Pizza Express’ new format is almost certainly an effective blueprint for a new expansion strategy, says James McAllister
While I accept my learned friend’s appraisal of Pizza Express’ somewhat patchy record when it comes to format experimentation, one also can’t dismiss the fact that while the group’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed with the years, it has always been on the front foot when it comes to evolving with the times. Lest we forget, the brand itself is a pioneer of the casual dining market, oft credited with being the UK’s original sit-down pizzeria experience. But it has by no means been a one trick pony.
In the late ’90s, for example, it became one of the first restaurant chains to launch its own-branded products into supermarkets. More recently, the group was one of the first to see the major opportunity in the loyalty app space. Launched in late 2021, the Pizza Express Club saw rapid adoption. Two million members were signed up in the first 12 months, and by late 2023 the app was driving roughly 25% of the company’s revenue.
The group’s new QSR-leaning site in Brixton also speaks to this foresight, in that it’s a concept that feels adroitly honed for the modern restaurant market. For one, it’s neatly tailored to appeal to a younger generation, who are currently driving what eating out demand there is. With its use of self-ordering kiosks, tighter menu offer and broader range of meal deals, it’s a sleek, informal distillation of the Pizza Express brand that feels ripe for the times. And with some targeted social media campaigning and influencer content, there’s no reason a brand with its reach – more than 200,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok – can’t connect and entice those diners in.
Pizza Express is a pioneer of the casual dining market, oft credited with being the UK’s original sit-down pizzeria experience. But it has by no means been a one trick pony
James McAllister
Moreover, though, it is a concept positioned to offer much greater breadth for cost-effective expansion. Much as the Pizza Express Pod has allowed it to move into white space and trade zones where a full-service restaurant would be unsuitable, so too does the Brixton restaurant. The ability to take on smaller sites in previously untapped areas and neighbourhoods will no doubt have been crucial to the concept’s development. Indeed, two further openings under the QSR format have already been announced for the coming months, in Finsbury Park and Earl’s Court – both high-density, residential areas that are well connected and popular with young professionals, and which will provide both strong local footfall and a greater catchment area for delivery.
As diners turn their back on casual dining in favour of the speed, affordability and convenience of QSR, it’s concepts like this that have the potential to thrive. Lessons have clearly been learnt not just from the likes of Za, but also other defunct quick-service iterations of casual dining formats, like Nando’s Nino, Cafe Rouge Express and Little Frankie’s. Unlike those, Pizza Express’ new Brixton restaurant carries the same name and branding, with the only notable difference being the more prominent emphasis on ‘takeaway’ within the signage. It’s subtle, sensible, slick, and almost certainly an effective blueprint for a new expansion strategy.
You can read James McAllister’s analysis of the new Pizza Express format here