With chains such as Pizza Express, Franco Manca, Domino’s and Goodfella dominating the market, pizza has become ubiquitous on British dinner plates – but is its popularity starting to wane?
Domino’s Pizza Group announced this week that its chief executive of two years has stepped down with immediate effect, less than two weeks after he suggested the UK could be approaching “peak pizza”.
Andrew Rennie – who worked for Domino’s for more than two decades and held the top job for only two decades – told the Financial Times this month that there is no “huge growth” left in the UK pizza market.
Given the rapidly increasing demand for fried chicken, he said it was “pretty obvious” that the group should expand its menu.
Rennie’s calculations are mirrored by the declining presence of pizza restaurants on Britain’s high streets after a period of rapid expansion more than a decade ago.
With companies like Pizza Express, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s closing outlets in recent years, the number of chain pizza restaurants has fallen from 5,000 in 2015 to 3,750 today, according to restaurant analysts CGA.
Pizza Hut announced the closure of 68 restaurants a month ago after the company that built its UK venues fell into administration.
Trish Caddy, associate director of food services research at market analysis company Mintel, says: “Pizza remains a cornerstone of UK fast food, with usage remaining steady at around 45% of consumers from 2023 to 2025.”
But she says this stability is in contrast to chicken shops, which have seen usage increase from 37% in 2023 to 39% in 2025. “On the surface, this two-point increase looks modest, but the underlying dynamics tell a bigger story: Among Gen Z, chicken shop usage has reached 52%, roughly on par with pizza outlets at 56%.”
She says the chicken shop’s momentum is being fueled by aggressive expansion. The US-founded Popeyes chain is planning to expand from 32 UK sites in 2023 to more than 80 in 2025, while its long-established rival KFC is investing £1.5bn and adding more than 50 outlets this year.
“These brands take advantage of the trends of high-protein diets and bold, spicy flavors, offering globally inspired menus that resonate with younger consumers,” Cady says.
Ruben Pullan, an analyst at CGA, says that “consumers have too many choices – and more brands competing for the same amount of money”, putting pizza restaurants under pressure.
It’s not just chicken shops – the rise of Asian-inspired chains like Dishoom, Steaks’n’Sushi, Giggling Squid and Pho have also eaten away at pizza’s market share.
Caddy says pizza chains also face competition from supermarkets, which have upgraded their chilled and frozen ranges.
Meanwhile, apps like Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have enabled many more restaurants to enter the home-delivery market.
According to CGA’s hospitality tracker of some of the UK’s top chains, overall sales in the food and drink hospitality industry are up 3% – just about keeping pace with inflation – but this includes a 1% increase for restaurants and a spectacular 18% increase for takeaways.
Cady says: “Delivery apps make restaurant pizza more accessible than ever, reducing effort for consumers who want convenience without the cooking. For many households, fast food is a delicious meal and a time-saver.
“Sometimes even heating up a frozen pizza feels like more effort than ordering it. This convenience factor both keeps pizza restaurants relevant, but it also means operators have to fight for share in a crowded market.”
However, Peel Hunt’s leisure industry analyst Douglas Jack says the pizza is far from exaggerated.
He says the market has continued to grow due to takeaways and the rise of more upmarket operators on the high street such as Franco Manca, Pizza Pilgrims, Yard Sale Pizza and Rudy’s.
According to research from industry consultant Peter Backman, sales through pizza restaurants are set to rise from £1.3 billion in 2015 to almost £2.3 billion in 2024, increasing every year, even during the Covid pandemic.
He expects the market to continue to expand as pizza chains “embrace delivery in ways that other sectors don’t” and capitalize on comparatively low ingredient costs, which support healthy margins.
“They offer good value and good entertainment. Pizza is so flexible that you can stick a steak on top of it and still call it pizza,” says Backman.
While some families are swapping takeaway for supermarket pizza to save money, others are switching to takeaway from restaurants for the same reason.
Domino’s has added about 500 outlets over the past decade, bringing its total to about 1,400. Jack at Peel Hunt says tough trading conditions coupled with consumer demand for digital ordering and faster delivery have boosted the big chains as smaller independents have struggled.
He attributes the slow pace of growth for Domino’s and other delivery firms this year to the hot summer – when willingness to order is lower – and the absence of a major men’s football tournament, usually a big cause of sofa dining.
Jack says franchisees are also holding off on expansion as they grapple with higher costs from government increases on employers’ national insurance.
He says these pressures have led to a sharp segmentation in the market, where larger, well-resourced players are thriving, while smaller operators are struggling to survive. “There’s no evidence that people will stop eating pizza,” says Jack. “Polarization is happening, the entire market is not going down.”
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