PizzaExpress takes axe to outlets

STRUGGLING PizzaExpress has put the For Sale sign up at 10 of its London outlets. The company, acquired last month by private equity owners for £278m, has instructed property agents to start marketing the restaurants, which will be closed as PizzaExpresses if it gets good offers.

According to Property Week magazine, they include such heartland locations as Camden Town, Crouch End and King's Road, Chelsea. Others facing the axe are the PizzaExpress to Go takeaway outlets at Paddington and Victoria stations and restaurants operating under the Marzano and Gourmet brands in Kensington, Soho and Putney.

Three Scottish restaurants and one in Brighton are also for sale. The latest move follows the closure of five loss-making restaurants in the regions over the past two months. The action comes as the company's new owners attempt to reverse a devastating slide in sales.

PizzaExpress, a pioneer of family-friendly, affordable eating in London, has been hit by the number of rivals that have sprung up in recent years. In April it announced a 9.4% fall in third-quarter sales, with the slump in double figures for its restaurants inside the M25.

The company was founded in the 1960s by Peter Boizot and has since carpeted Britain with its distinctively branded restaurants. At its peak in the Nineties, it was opening 30 to 35 restaurants a year. It said it would continue to open some new outlets and had refurbished more than 90% of its 340-strong chain.

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