Pizza Pilgrims, the pizzeria brand, has reported another year of strong growth, posting record revenue of £34.4m for the year ending 30 June 2024, an increase of 20% on the previous year (2023: £28.7m), as it continued to broaden its geographic reach.
Pizza Pilgrims saw full-year Ebitda climb 21% to £2.9m (2023: £2.4m), an increase of 21%. After exceptional items, the company recorded a marginal loss of £100,000 (2023: profit of £700,000), which was largely driven by the closure of its Oxford site in January 2024, which it said was a strategic decision to strengthen the overall portfolio.
The 25-strong business said its current financial year is proving to be another period of strong growth. At the end of last year, the business reported a circa 14% increase in December 2024 run rate revenue of circa £39m and like-for-like growth of circa 8%, with the Ebitda margin at site level in excess of 20%.
During the year to 30 June 2024, the Gavin Smith-led company opened three sites in London – in Queen’s Park, Euston and Chelsea – as well as Leeds and its inaugural site in Wales, in Cardiff. In April, the brand made its debut in Scotland, in Edinburgh’s Rose Street, and opened in Brick Lane in east London in May.
At least four additional new sites are planned to open over the next 12 months, with the business planning to grow its portfolio to 38 sites by 2027. Pizza Pilgrims has secured sites in King’s Cross in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, the latter its first location in the south west.
The brand is also looking to re-enter Oxford and discussions are currently underway on an alternative site in the centre of the city.
The brand said that with minimal debt, new site expansion is almost entirely self-funded from free cash flow, and that it achieves a strong return on capital employed of 80% across mature sites. Including Deliveroo custom, eat-out sales now account for circa 21% of Pizza Pilgrims’ income.
The business said it continues to evaluate various opportunities as it looks to embark on its next stage of growth, including further expansion in the UK, exploring international opportunities, and quick service restaurant formats.
Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, said: “This has been another year of strong growth, led by Gavin, Sophie (Gilchrist, finance director) and our engaged, committed and loyal team who are so key to our success.
We have successfully expanded our geographic footprint into new locations to encouraging acclaim up and down the country, reinforcing the scalability of the Pizza Pilgrims brand experience and its resonance with our pizza-loving customers.”
