Steve Holmes, the new chief executive of Zizzi and ASK Italian, has said that he believes there is scope to operate up to 250 sites under the latter brand in the UK.
Holmes told M&C Report: “It is an extremely competitive sector but the potential is there for the brand. When I joined Gondola it had c200 PizzaExpress now it stands at c450, so there is scope to grow from the current mark to 250.”
He said that the company wanted to grow the c110-strong brand by six 10 more sites a year, with a new Edinburgh site coming on line in July and then a site in Swindon by the year end.
Holmes has been credited with being the driving force in the revival of the ASK brand over the last couple of years, with over half of the chain’s c110 sites now reflecting the brand’s “fresh new look”.
Those that have been updated are believed to be trading well and that the remaining sites will be upgraded within the next 18-24 months.
Holmes was made chief executive across both brands earlier this month after overseeing ASK for three years.
His new appointment followed on from Gondola’s decision to sell Zizzi and ASK together, separately from core brand PizzaExpress.
Goldman Sachs is to handle a sale of its biggest brand, although an initial public offering has not been ruled out, while Rothschild is handling the sale of ASK and Zizzi, which in total operate c.245 restaurants.
