PizzaExpress, the Hony Capital-backed group, has appointed Liam Collette as the new managing director for its international operations, MCA understands.
Collete, who has been with the company since 2010, will be responsible for the c75-strong estate of restaurants company-owned and operated under franchise outside the UK, Ireland and mainland China.
He was previously the group’s international finance director and general manager for Hong Kong, the UAE and Singapore.
The company recently opened its first site in the Philippines.
Last August, it reported UK like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to 2 July up 1.3%. During the period, group turnover grew 9.1% to £260.7m while group EBITDA fell 13.9% to £40.6m. Like-for-like sales growth in international markets was up 17.7% with group like-for-like sales growing 3.4%.
Speaking at the time, chief executive Jinlong Wang said: “We maintained our focus on growing the international business which we believe represents a huge opportunity for us. We opened eight new sites in the first half, and have a strong opening pipeline in place for the year ahead. Our experience internationally has taught us that getting our menus right is essential to success in these markets. We have been working on adapting our offering so that it is relevant and appealing to local tastes, which in many cases has meant expanding our range while ensuring that high quality, good value pizza is central to our menu.”
