The company behind Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK owed almost £30m as it collapsed with the loss of more than 1,100 jobs, it has been revealed.
DC London Pie entered administration towards the end of last month with FTI Consulting appointed to oversee the process.
A new document has revealed the full story behind its collapse, how much it owed to its creditors and whether or not they will receive any of their money back.
The document from FTI Consulting has also confirmed that Yum! Brands, which owns the Pizza Hut name, bought the business of DC London Pie and a substantial number of its assets for £3.7m.
When the company entered administration and the deal with Yum! Brands was announced, a sale figure was not confirmed.
The deal included 36 Pizza Hut restaurants and 1,254 employees which meant that 79 sites were closed and 1,160 jobs were lost.
According to FTI Consulting’s document, the firm’s secured creditor is owed £18.2m and has received 18% of that total back. However, secondary preferential creditors are expected to get less than 10% of the £11m they are collectively owed.
Unsecured creditors are also owed £6.1m and will not get any of that money back.
FTI Consulting added that ordinary preferential creditors are expected to get all of the £300,000 they are due.
DC London Pie took over Pizza Hut’s restaurants in Britain when their previous owner, Heart With Smart (HWS) collapsed earlier this year.
HWS was saved in January by an entity controlled by investment firm Directional Capital in a deal which salvaged all but one Pizza Hut location
The pre-pack administration, which was overseen by Interpath Advisory, came at the end of a two-month process to find new investors for the company. The deal saved more than 3,000 jobs across the country.
Before being saved, HWS was owned by lender Price and the firm’s bosses following a management buyout worth £100m in 2018.
Prior to that, the Pizza Hut franchise was owned by private equity firm Rutland Partners.
Writing in FTI Consulting’s report, the administrators said: “Post-acquisition, management initiated a turnaround strategy which included headcount rationalisation (including the prior executive management team), the closure of certain underperforming sites, and optimisation of in-store staffing levels.
Whilst these measures sought to reduce run-rate overheads, the company incurred exceptional restructuring costs and experienced significant working capital pressures.”
They added that the Pizza Hut franchisee suffered falling like-for-like sales because of “intensified competition from quick-service restaurant operators and delivery aggregators”.
It was also impacted by increased pressures from food inflation and labour costs as well as the rise in the National Living Wage from April 2025 “which had not been passed on in full to the consumer”.
The business also paid out £4.8m to provide working capital to other DC Group entities between January and September 2025 while it repaid £4.9m in funding over the same period.
As a result, the company became unable to fulfil several of its obligations including tax liabilities, trade creditors, utilities bills and royalty payments.
Despite the demands of running a rapidly expanding company, Choudhary has learned to find balance, something he didn’t always have. These days, he’s an early riser, front-loading his weekdays with office work before spending afternoons on-site visits and store builds.
Evenings are reserved for football and gym sessions, and weekends are kept for family. “Sunday lunch at my mum’s house—that’s the recharge,” he says with a smile.
Among his proudest milestones is winning an international franchise of the year award earlier in his career, besting competitors across 30 markets, but he’s just as proud of The Sushi Co’s present trajectory. He said: “It’s been incredible to watch it grow. And we’re only getting started.”
When asked what advice he’d give his younger self, Choudhary was quick to reply: “Learn to walk before you run. There are no shortcuts. Move with care, build the right team, and think everything through.”
For prospective franchisees eyeing entry into the booming sushi space, The Sushi Co is currently welcoming applications.
Choudhary says: “We’re looking for experienced QSR and business professionals ready to invest in a proven, fast-growing concept. This is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the casual dining market, and we’re here to lead it.”
As The Sushi Co expands across the UK, Choudhary is showing that scale doesn’t have to mean compromise. With handcrafted sushi at its core and a franchise model built on training, quality, and support, he’s not just growing a brand, he’s setting a new standard for what fast-casual dining can deliver.
