Major update over Pizza Hut's future in UK with restaurants facing uncertainty

James Rodger
·2-min read
Major update over Pizza Hut's future in UK with restaurants at risk
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Pizza Hut could sell UK restaurants as part of plans to raise more than £10million. The operator of Pizza Hut's restaurants in the UK is looking to raise more than £10m to help it cope with increased costs after tax rises on business were announced in last month's Labour Party Budget.

The money could come from a sale of part of the business, or new investment from existing shareholders. Heart With Smart (HWS) - which operates all 140 UK dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants - will use the money on new technology including touch-screen ordering kiosks and contactless table ordering.

This could come from a sale of part of the business, or new investment from existing shareholders. The investments would allow Pizza Hut to operate with fewer staff - although reports suggest it would not lead to redundancies.

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HWS employs around 3,000 people and licenses the Pizza Hut name from Yum! Brands - but Pizza Hut delivery outlets are run separately by individual franchisees. A spokesperson from Pizza Hut UK said: "As a well-renowned presence on the British high street, we have always been committed to creating the strongest possible future for Pizza Hut.

"We are supportive of HwS in its efforts to engage in an options process to ensure the future success of its restaurants. While this conversation is ongoing, we will not be commenting further." From April 2025 the rate of employers’ national insurance contributions, which are paid by businesses on top of workers’ salaries, will rise from 13.8% to 15%, and the level where contributions start will fall to £5,000.

Combined with a 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage and an even bigger rise for 18 to 20-year-olds, HWS expects to see its labour costs rise £4m, or about 14%, next year. Top pub and restaurant bosses have warned the chancellor that tax rises in last month's Budget will "unquestionably" cause closures and job losses.

In a letter, more than 200 signatories have said the hospitality industry is disproportionately impacted by an "unsustainable" hike in the amount employers pay in National Insurance contributions (NICs). It adds that businesses have "no capacity to pass the costs onto customers", which would instead lead to job cuts and closures of smaller firms.

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