Financial Troubles for Pizza Express
In the News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49957551
I have not set foot in a pizza express for about a decade, and it’s perhaps the same for a lot of people - although I know they are popular in some areas, so they might not disappear quite yet
I used to love pizza express. Went with my mum when Tesco uses to do the vouchers for there and we only ever had to pay for drinks. Last time we went to one was probably 2 years ago. We don't have one close to us and there are cheaper places to eat.
I love pizza express 
But i only go maybe once a year coz it’s so pricey.. My dad used to get the Tesco vouchers and we’d go out for free meals but we don’t have a Tesco near us to be able to shop there and get vouchers 
They charge extremely expensive for those who use frozen pizza base 
You can eat a much better pizza for less, or at least for the same price anywhere.
Yes, I guess when you can also buy them from the supermarkets, it’s also another reason not to spend the prices on the high street
hspexy I can understand a place with pizzaiolos preparing fresh pasta every day (a real pizza needs 48 hours of base preparation), charging over 10 pounds for a pizza, but a place where they get a frozen base that just goes to an oven doesn't seem to me like the kind of place that can charge how much they charge for food.
That's why I always choose local and independent restaurants.
Lol he seems to be the only one with money at the moment...could easily kit out the staff with his football shirts, and also put the staff uniform for sale next to the pizzas! 
I got a pizza express voucher for my birthday.... I best hurry up and use it me thinks !!
Lol yes, use it as quickly as possible. I regret not using my house of Fraser voucher when I read about their troubles, and then not getting a replacement
Probably. This reminds me, there was once a voucher sell/buy website called "Zeek" and those who might have waited too long might have lost the rest of it (discount, etc).
Used Pizza Express a few times, from memory Salisbury, Taunton and Dorchester possibly somewhere else. Always very nice food, friendly staff and good value. I think on every occasion a voucher was used. Probably from clubcard points.
I only skimmed the news report but it sounded like the Chinese bought the company but in a way where the debt of buying the company was actually added to the companies own debts at least partially. It's like we have invested in the company and we get our money back first and a free company with it or we actually destroy the company by adding huge debts to it, seems high risk as it makes the company less viable. Seems like Pizza Express is profitable but cannot afford to pay back its increased debts now. However if it goes into administration and gets sold cheaply then someone gets a very viable business not saddled with debt and the Chinese get next to nothing but then they caused its demise anyway. Probably without Brexit maybe Pizza Express would have traded successfully and managed to stay afloat and been a very good deal for the Chinese. Apologies if I haven't got quite the right idea about how it was sold but that's how I interpreted it from the news report. Probably 100s maybe 1000s of employees put at risk because of such financial manipulation. If the underlying business is profitable surely it shouldn't disappear. I think the other thing they do in this sort of financial manoeuvre is asset strip before it hits administration making the business even less viable but this is I guess where the money to buy the company was borrowed but I think the Chinese did put up the original investment money so not an option for them as its their own money but if they'd borrowed it, they could screw such investors by asset stripping before the business caves in leaving such investors, banks etc with nothing.
Well, we can't really blame Brexit left and right whenever a company goes under. Thomas Cook tried pulling that card but we know it was due to other reasons.
What's really strange is that so many companies in U.K. are going bankrupt but that's not necessarily a bad thing (it is for the employees, though).
Rockman My point was without Brexit maybe Pizza Express could have traded through their debt level but with slightly reduced sales they couldn't. The current Brexit uncertainty is no good for any business. If we'd actually come out of the EU even without a deal shortly after the vote maybe we would be coming out of the initial impact of that by now and recovering but we are in a state of limbo not sure what is going to happen and even if Brexit is cancelled the huge debts and trade deficit with the EU will only continue and Brexit no.2 will be here again in a few years when perhaps our debts have increased from 1.8 trillion to 2.5 trillion and services like the NHS start getting dismantled even further and austerity is even worse.
Not sure what you are thinking with regard UK companies going bankrupt not being a bad thing 99.99% of the time that is going to be a very bad thing especially its replaced by a foreign company exporting all their profits back to their own country.
Whatever I hope Pizza Express survives.
I live near Salisbury and am planning a Pizza Express visit this week to use my voucher 
they are not worth the price. That is the problem with chains, as the value of what they sell seems to go down the moment they are on every high street. I did like Franco Manco when they first popped up, but now they are everywhere and do not taste as good
Ah yes the dreadful Franco Manca - I don’t see the appeal at all; you get minimal ingredients on top of soggy sourdough. There was one time we added sweet potato as an extra and got one slice of sweet potato! Really not worth it
yeah as many have commented its sad but the price for such a basic food is just unjustified. I bought a Ferrari Pizza oven and have used it probably hundreds of times in the year Ive had it -do pizza parties for the kids make my own sourdough and they can build their own, even with italian toms, fresh veg. three cheeses and meats it was costing well under a pound for a 15inch pizza 
Wow that’s a great idea, and it’s fun for the kids too. I’ve not thought about buying a pizza oven before, but I think it’s a fab idea. I’ll check it out - thanks
hspexy more than welcome! I did it to encourage the kids to eat veg etc so I have only two party rules no one unattended near the oven - it gets blazing hot and second you can have any topping at all as long as they include at least three vegetables! They all love chucking the dough about and well they get to inhale pizza so win win. Dont tell on me but I manage to get celery onion and carrots in the sauce and wholewheat flour in the base 
OneeyedRaven lol that’s certainly a clever way to get kids to eat stuff they normally wouldn’t eat. It sounds like it was a great party. I must try it some time 
I am the same its been over 5 years. They are nice places to eat but they are nothing special, they are always on the taste cars 2 for 1 and have deals on.
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