Pizza Pilgrims appoints advisors to support ‘exciting growth plans’

Pizza Pilgrims has appointed advisors to explore “strategic and investment options” for its next stage of growth.

The Neapolitan pizzeria brand was founded by brothers Thom and James Elliot in 2012 and has since grown to 23 restaurants across the UK, with recent openings in Leeds, London Euston and Cardiff.

Pizza Pilgrims revealed it has received “inbound interest” from trade operators, international hospitality partners and financial institutions around its expansion.

As a result of these “unsolicited conversations”, management has appointed PwC to evaluate the pizzeria’s wide-ranging growth plans.

The group said it had ambitions to expand internationally and grow its QSR concept ‘Slice’, which it trialled on London’s South Bank during lockdown.

Conversations on Slice are currently underway with a “large entertainment venue”.  

Pizza Pilgrims employs over 500 staff, who serve between 40,000 to 50,000 pizzas a week across its sites. Just over 60% of its GMs and head chefs stay with the business for at least two years.

The company typically opens between four to six new restaurants each year, which tend to be based around urban centres and university towns. It is looking to launch restaurants in Edinburgh and London’s King’s Cross and Chelsea before the end of the financial year.

In February this year, Pizza Pilgrims also secured B-Corp certification following a two-year qualification programme.

It also reported strong trading, with pre-tax profit more than doubling from £300,000 to £700,000 in the year ended June 2023. Revenue increased by 37% to a record-breaking £28.7m, compared to £21m in 2022.

Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, said: “We know we and the team have together built a great business and we’re really excited about the next leg of our journey and growing the business to bring the Pizza Pilgrims’ experience to more pizza-loving customers in new markets both at home and abroad.

“We’re looking forward to building on that momentum and leveraging some of the exciting opportunities ahead in the right way.”