Pizza Express about to go into adminstration?

[QuimJongUn]

I've seen people talking about this on social media but can't find anything about it online. Anyone heard anything/got any links?

It's daft but I've got a real fondness for the place especially with money off from Clubcard vouchers

I hope not as they employ a lot of people. I have lunch there occasionally as my friend likes it but pizza/pasta isn’t really my thing. I prefer Wagamama’s, that better be going nowhere!

Their pizzas are so underwhelming though, I’m not surprised. There are far far better pizza places (chains) they’ve just not upped their game.

Oh dear, better spend that discount voucher I have for them.

Gosh - the high street is changing beyond all recognition.

I wonder if it's'just' the restaurants closing or whether their in the supermarket range will continue ie?

I used to go now and then in my 20s, and then one time DH and I got served some really poorly put together soggy pizzas and just decided we wouldn't go anymore. That was 5 years ago.

(We've gone once since then because we received a £20 voucher. I just had a salad).

Wouldn't surprise me. We've never had good service, even when it's quiet, the service is slow, mistakes are made, food isn't that good, etc. After a few attempts, we stopped bothering and havn't been in one for a couple of years now. Why pay over the odds for a burnt pizza?

Same with Frankie & Benny who'll probably be next.

The one near us is nice with good service, the one ‘in town ’ Not so much. For a chain it’s FAR too variable.

It’s been good to us over the years - but we don’t go very often any more.

I’m sorry for all the staff though

It’s all about Franco manca now and independents. Which partly I am enjoying because I like that the playing field is evening out, maybe the high street changing will ultimately give us more choice over all. Chains have their place but PE were just that bit too big and too generic.

They have around 500 UK outlets.
That's a lot of people to lose jobs, just after TC too.

Going into administration doesn't necessarily mean that all the restaurants will close straight away. Didn't one of the other chains do the same and they said that some restaurants would close as a cost cutting exercise?

There's just too many chains with too many outlets offering a similar thing for too much money. And they all seem to have come out of nowhere in the last 10/20 years and there probably isn't enough demand for them to make a profit.

There seems to be an awful lot of debt out there in shops and restaurants and maybe the house of cards is starting to fall down.

Oh, have only been once, while visiting a town we didn't know, and found it to be clean, polite staff, good range of choice for vegetarians and vegans, and affordable (not sure why someone would be hungry after spending £60 there...).

Aw no! They do gluten free pizza! Guess it's Pizza Hut for me now!

I'm not surprised in the slightest.

The pizzas seem to be the exact ones you can buy off the shelves (Pizza Express branded I mean)
In my mind, all you're doing is paying top rate for someone to bung the pizza in the oven.

Those poor people out of work though dreadful.

I'm not surprised, I got so fed up of Pizza Express. Service was alway bad, pizza toppings stingy for the price. Pasta was always microwaved. We gave up on because if we're going to spend nearly £60 for four people we know other places which are nicer.

I'll never understand the popularity of PE etc. You'll almost certainly get better food and service at lower prices in an independent Italian restaurant.

Some of us enjoy chain places AND lovely little independent places.

I live in London and go to independent places all the time. I also love pizza express and Nandos. Sue me

noooooooooo !!!!

I've been avoid Pizza Express for years - I'm not particularly fussy, but the service is always so genuinely awful every time I've been there. I've noticed that they've been revamping a lot of their restaurants, but perhaps it was too little, too late.

They occupy a heck of a lot of prime retail property. I do feel sorry for the small towns (I can think of at least 3 off the top of my head) where Pizza Express is the only family friendly dining option.

The last time we went into our local chain the service was horrendously slow despite the place not being particularly busy. There was a group of three mums who were ignoring their brats kids (about 7 of them in total) who were charging around the restaurant, screaming, climbing on chairs etc. The staff were ignoring them too. The whole experience was utterly dreadful. We vowed to never go back.

For a chain it’s FAR too variable.

Same with Frankie & Benny. The whole ethos of chains is standardisation & consistency. When quality of service differs enormously, there's no future.

That's exactly why McDonalds is so popular - at the very least you know exactly what you'll be getting. Lack of consistency is a massive problem.

That's a shame if true. All the ones I've been to have been lovely, normally in old classical buildings and the pizzas and service have been good. The only independent Italians near us cost £££ compared to PE.

My children will be so upset. "Express Pizza" is their favourite.

Frankie and Benny is the Iceland of restaurants. I’ve had better food from McCain.

It doesn't look good, does it?

NOOOOO!

Someone please rescue it.

It's not my favourite pizza chain but it is the only restaurant my ASD/ADHD child will eat at so it is the only way we get to have a meal out as a family. Other pizza restaurants will not do.

Can I blame the tories?