Written ByRobert Moore
Marketing Manager
Rob has over a decade of experience in web and general marketing. He has extensive knowledge of the Insolvency sector and has helped many worried directors with their questions.
Rob is now working with the Board at KSA Group Ltd to develop strategic marketing programmes to support the business plan and drive more company rescues.
Update 17th January 2025
The future of Pizza Hut’s restaurants in Britain has been salvaged after the business was sold out of insolvency proceedings to the brand’s main partner in Denmark and Sweden.
Sky News can reveal that Heart With Smart (HWS), Pizza Hut’s dine-in franchise partner in the UK, was sold on Thursday to an entity controlled by investment firm Directional Capital.
Heart With Smart (HWS), the operator of nearly 150 Pizza Hut UK restaurants, is in advanced talks with potential buyers on a rescue deal for the dine-in chain’s future.
The hope is that a successful bidder will be selected in January, following months of discussions. Many trade and financial buyers have expressed interest. Interpath Advisory have been working with HWS on the process.
In November, Sky News reported that HWS had started to approach potential bidders after wanting to mitigate the impact of rising taxes announced in the October Budget.
Insiders told Sky News that particularly increases coming for the National Living Wage and Employers’ National Insurance Contributions, would add around £4m to HWS’s yearly costs.
The hospitality industry in itself has faced warning signs and even post-Budget, restaurant operators have felt the pressure. Take the recent collapse of TGI Fridays as a prime example!
The company, which was previously called Pizza Hut Restaurants, employs circa. 3,000 people.
It is owned by a combination of Pricoa and the company’s management, led by chief executive Jens Hofma.
HWS licenses the Pizza Hut name from Yum! Brands.
HWS operates all the dine in restaurants in the UK, but any delivery outlets are run separately by individual franchises.
The first Pizza Hut restaurant opened in the UK in the early 1970s. The following 15 years of business saw rapid expansion and growth. It was in 2020 that the company faced a Company Voluntary Arrangement, with the result of dozens of restaurants closing and many jobs lost.
Will a deal be made and new owner found? Or will this be another casualty in the casual dining, hospitality industry?