Pizza Time Franchise in the UK

Alice Tuffery, writer

Published at 01/06/2019, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

Pizza Time Franchise in the UK — Photo © pizza-time-franchise.jpg

Pizza Time is a franchise that provides fresh pizzas and sides to hungry consumers across the UK. Customers can opt to have their order delivered to their door or collect it from their local Pizza Time branch.

This business focusses on quality, offering pizzas made with hand-stretched dough and topped with only the freshest ingredients. According to Pizza Time, it takes five hours for them to make the perfect pizza – this is because the business turns away from machines and other shortcuts, and instead uses traditional, authentic techniques to create its pizzas.

This franchise has 25 different pizzas – so even the fussiest of eaters will find something to suit them – alongside an extensive menu of sides that includes garlic bread, potato wedges, hot dog dough balls, jacket potatoes, nachos, BBQ chicken wings and breaded mozzarella sticks. These can be dipped in a variety of different sauces, such as garlic and herb, honey mustard, BBQ, garlic mayo and sweet chilli. Customers can wash their food down with a range of soft drinks and finish the meal with a delicious dessert. Options include cookies, cake, ice cream and even marshmallow or chocolate pizzas.

Pizza Time Franchise

Luckily for savvy entrepreneurs, Pizza Time is looking for franchisees to build on the business’ existing 11 branches by opening more outlets in key locations. This means that you can launch a pizza delivery business without the stresses that come along with starting up a business from scratch. By partnering with Pizza Time, you’ll gain access to existing brand awareness, an established customer pool, a developed product offering and refined business strategies. This reduces much of the risk inherent to founding a new independent start-up. Let’s take a look at Pizza Time’s franchise model.

Pizza Time states that it offers a ‘turnkey’ business, the success of which is virtually guaranteed, as a result of the business’ ten-year track record. However, there is also the option to remodel an existing pizza business into a Pizza Time outlet and adopt the operational strategies of the brand. Either way, Pizza Time offers plenty of support throughout the preparation and launch stages to ensure that the venture is a success. Franchisees can expect to receive guidance in site selection, lease negotiation, launch plans, marketing, public relations, project management and staff recruitment.

Head to the Pizza Time website and complete its online form to get the ball rolling.

Alternative Franchise Opportunities

If a Pizza Time franchise is not quite right for you, do not despair! There is a whole host of other franchises in the pizza sector that are searching for entrepreneurs to help expand their business. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the options.

Papa John’s

If you’ve decided you’d like to open a pizza delivery franchise, Papa John’s is the place to start. This franchise has over 30 years of industry experience and is one of the most famous pizza chains in the UK. It arrived in the UK in 2000 and, since then, has opened over 5,000 outlets in 45 countries. This is a big franchise, and it generates annual sales of more than $3 billion (£2.3 billion).

To benefit from Papa John’s significant brand awareness and established customer pool, you will need to be prepared to invest at least £100,000, as well as £18,500 in franchise fees. However, you can rely on the business to support you throughout the launch process; new franchisees are enrolled onto a six-week training scheme that includes theory and practical work. This means that you don’t need experience in the food industry to open a Papa John’s outlet, as long as you are business-oriented and possess good communication skills. On top of this, there are three deals for savvy franchisees; the business offers a free oven, a royalty reduction programme and targeted marketing support.

Bella Italia

If you live in the UK and like Italian food, chances are you’ll have heard of Bella Italia. This casual dining restaurant has 40 years of experience and provides Italian-inspired dishes to hungry customers. Bella Italia boasts an extensive menu of pasta, pizza, meat and fish dishes, as well as salads, starters and desserts. The pasta dishes are particularly delicious, made from De Cecco pasta that has been made with high-quality grains since 1886 and is imported directly from Italy.

To become a Bella Italia franchisee, you will need to have experience in the casual dining market and a decent list of contacts. You must also be able and willing to invest at least £700,000 in the outlet. The business also requires franchisees to have the funds to invest in the business for at least three years. If you are able to secure this capital, you will then need to locate a site in a busy, commercial area with over 275 square metres of space. If you are approved by the business, you will gain access to a dedicated online guidance portal and a franchise team to help with managing staff.

Fireaway

A third alternative is Fireaway. This franchise was launched in 2015 and provides a fast service for customers in serious need of pizza. In Fireaway restaurants, employees put pizza on customers’ plates in under three minutes, topping the dough with fresh ingredients and baking the pizza in an authentic fire oven. The franchise also operates a delivery service, Fireaway Express. This business model uses commercial kitchens and sells pizzas through delivery platforms such as Just Eat, UberEats and Deliveroo, as well as Fireaway’s own website. These two approaches have helped the franchise garner a combined total of more than 6,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram.

Fireaway is a fantastic choice for entrepreneurs who are interested in pizza franchises but have a limited budget. The business requires a £49,000 investment and current franchisees pay as little as £349 in fees per month.