Richmond gives PizzaExpress ‘template for the future’

The new-look restaurant, recently profiled by Peach Report, has seen like for like sales growth in the “high teens” since opening a month ago, Angela reported. He described 60 to 70% of customer feedback as positive, with equal proportions of the rest either "helpful" or negative. “Four weeks in we pretty much know what’s working,” he told the conference. “We’re fairly clear now about what elements we want to roll out and when we’ll do it.”

Angela conceded that some aspects of the Richmond experiment had not worked, and admitted that the cost of the much-vaunted overhaul of acoustics—which have cut noise levels in half at the restaurant—would have to come down if they were to be scaled out across the estate. But the project had stimulated the whole Pizza Express team, he said. “It’s been a lot of fun and very inspiring as a business.”

Pizza Express had to strive to maintain its reputation for passion and creativity, he added. “It’s important that we innovate and take risks.” Change had been partly inspired by the vision of founder Peter Boizot, recipient of the Icon Award at the conference, and it was an “evolution, not revolution,” he pointed out.

Among the innovations singled out for mention were the decision to push the pizza-making area of the kitchen out into the heart of the restaurant and the way it can be transformed from a children-friendly destination by day to an adult-focused restaurant by night.

Pizza Express HR director Julie MacDonald meanwhile told the conference that the company had radically changed the way it recruits and deploys staff. “We’d fallen into the trap of thinking consistency is king,” she admitted. “We’d dampened down the great personalities our people have.”

Using Richmond as a test bed, MacDonald overhauled Pizza Express’ recruitment process to put a new emphasis on attitude, and hired a dialogue consultant to advise on customer engagement. Changes to training—including a team trip to Naples to see pizza making in action and input on the needs of families from MumsNet founder Carrie Longton—had also stimulated staff, she said.

The changes have given Pizza Express great new potential. “Once you’ve got a great team in place you can do whatever you want with them,” said MacDonald. “What we’ve done isn’t rocket science—but we took a step back and were honest with ourselves,” she added.

Angela wrapped up the conference with some tips for other operators considering similar overhaul of their concepts. “Take a deep breath and prepare to be bold,” he advised. “Don’t expect it to turn out how you expect, and spend more money than you planned—you’ll waste some but it’ll be worth it.”

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