Legend’s PizzaExpress set for China expansion, transformation

PizzaExpress, the British restaurant chain acquired by Legend Holdings’ private equity unit Hony Capital, plans to boost its number of stores in China 10 times to more than 200 within five years as larger rival Pizza Hut has hit a roadblock in the world’s second-biggest economy.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, PizzaExpress global chairman Wang Jinlong vowed to target the premium end of the casual dining market where Western dining among Chinese millennials has become prevalent, with an ongoing nationwide branding revamp and the launch of a “fast casual” brand next.

The vision was laid out two years into Hony’s £900 million buyout of the London-based operator of 589 PizzaExpress restaurants worldwide, more than 80 per cent of which are currently in Britain and Ireland.

“We have set a small goal. I hope our business in China can grow by 10-fold in the next five years with all the efforts we are making,” said the former chief executive of Starbucks’ greater China arm. “Money is not an issue.”

That ambition is poised to make PizzaExpress, a favourite among the British middle class but less-known among Chinese diners with only 29 outlets, one of the biggest upscale Western fast-food restaurant chains in China in the years to come.

“A first step we are taking to bolster our high-end appeal is to rebrand PizzaExpress as PizzaMarzano and replace the characters in our Chinese name with those delivering a classier meaning,” said Wang, who is also the chief executive of PizzaExpress’ China unit.

The expansion comes despite the lacklustre performance by Yum China’s Pizza Hut chain, which has been plagued by a waning appetite among Chinese consumers and a food safety scandal that tarnished the brand’s image in 2014. The struggling pizza maker, with hundreds of stores in China, was recently spun off by its US parent Yum Brands.