Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Thirteen]

Omniplex, the Irish cinema chain has bought Empire's remaining five cinemas:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/24934497 ... -scotland/

The press release mention they plan to open more in 2024, I wonder if that means they are looking to acquire some of the closed Empire cinemas or some from other chains which are now on the market?

 

[Snow1964]

TXM Plant has apparently filed notice to appoint administrator.

Previously called NDS Plant and Hydrex, operates road/rail equipment

 

[blueberry11]

How about Pizza Hut? There used to be three in Norwich of the top of my head but two of them closed: one at Chantry Place (previously called Chapelfield) opposite McDonald's and one next to the former Debenhams, where Five Guys now sits. The only one in Norwich is now in Longwater, on the western outskirts of Norwich.

Edit: forgot to mention the other Pizza Hut near the Norwich railway station

 

[jon0844]

Pizza Hut seem to have shut many restaurants and moved to delivery only, sometimes in locations away from high streets - so not even wanting take out customers.

 

[SteveM70]

Their last accounts make for interesting reading. Loss making (albeit coming out of Covid), a big pile of debt (around 50% of turnover), and some interesting qualifications in the auditors' statement

 

[LowLevel]

How about Pizza Hut? There used to be three in Norwich of the top of my head but two of them closed: one at Chantry Place (previously called Chapelfield) opposite McDonald's and one next to the former Debenhams, where Five Guys now sits. The only one in Norwich is now in Longwater, on the western outskirts of Norwich.

Still the Riverside one by the station.

 

[Kite159]

How about Pizza Hut? There used to be three in Norwich of the top of my head but two of them closed: one at Chantry Place (previously called Chapelfield) opposite McDonald's and one next to the former Debenhams, where Five Guys now sits. The only one in Norwich is now in Longwater, on the western outskirts of Norwich.

Is Pizza Hut all company owned sites or some of them franchises?

I've not been in one for a while, since the days post covid where you had to order everything online rather than talking to someone in a restaurant.

 

[SteveM70]

Is Pizza Hut all company owned sites or some of them franchises?

A single UK licensee I think

 

[birchesgreen]

Pizza Hut have a lot of debt

Pizza Hut future in UK and 150 stores 'uncertain' as it battles £73million debt

Pizza Hut's UK branch is currently in talks to refinance almost £31million of its overall £73million debt pile which must be repaid by next April

www.mirror.co.uk

The UK branch for the restaurant chain, called Heart with Smart Group, is currently in talks to refinance almost £31million of its overall £73million debt pile which must be repaid by next April. It comes as the company managed to secure relaxed terms on its loan.

The news report is from August.

 

[ComUtoR]

Pizza Hut used to be decent. Shame the buffet is now only available on Tuesday's with a full moon, between 0900-0927, limited to thin crust peperoni, vegan or kids margaritas, drinks extra, forks extra, menus optional, plates complimentary, refillable drinks only, milkshakes not included, ice-cream and sweets for +£19.99. Also only available at local stores and not flagships.

I'd order online using their 'deal bot' and my location has *two stores for delivery...


Papa Johns, Fireaway, Domino's, Pizza GoGo, TGF, Pizza Express, Zizzi's.. and many more. In a competitive marketplace and with the advent of Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats. They just haven't kept pace with the competition.

I'd hate to see them go and I have fond memories and fun times in Pizza Hut. They were iconic but now feel a little nostalgic. A bit like Little Chef and Wimpy :/







*deals limited at restaurant locations

 

[dk1]

How about Pizza Hut? There used to be three in Norwich of the top of my head but two of them closed: one at Chantry Place (previously called Chapelfield) opposite McDonald's and one next to the former Debenhams, where Five Guys now sits. The only one in Norwich is now in Longwater, on the western outskirts of Norwich.

Not a restaurant but I find Grove Road superb.

 

[johntea]

By the time you've chosen a 'deal' at the likes of Domino's or Pizza Hut it is almost breakfast time anyway

At least one local takeaway will knock up a superior pizza without all that faffing about and although obviously not the same the supermarkets do a decent range which you can just shove in the air fryer for 10-15 minutes

I'm finding a lot of chain fast food places are just getting so ridiculous with their pricing now that surely there has to be a tipping point soon, to the extent in some cases you're not far off just going to Five Guys!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

TXM Plant has apparently filed notice to appoint administrator.

Previously called NDS Plant and Hydrex, operates road/rail equipment

Its been thrown to the wolves before i recollect RBS or Bank of Scotland did so then and that was in NRs spending splurge days so NDS rode into the rescue to prop them up as they too mission critical for the industry. Since then renewals has been dropped back and enhancements have all but faded out so not surprising to hear.

 

[jon0844]

Pizza Hut have a lot of debt

Without investigating further, is this another case of an investor/hedge fund style takeover that gradually stripped every asset, loaded the company with debt and now has nothing left to cut?

At some point, let it fail and someone else can come along to pick up the pieces, take the name (the bit worth the money) and start over?

 

[Thirteen]

I thought that Pizza Hut was owned by Yum Brands which also owns KFC and Taco Bell?

My favourite pizza place is Pizza Pilgrims but they are mostly London based.

 

[jon81uk]

Pizza Hut used to be decent. Shame the buffet is now only available on Tuesday's with a full moon, between 0900-0927, limited to thin crust peperoni, vegan or kids margaritas, drinks extra, forks extra, menus optional, plates complimentary, refillable drinks only, milkshakes not included, ice-cream and sweets for +£19.99. Also only available at local stores and not flagships.

On the buffet the opposite is actually true. Always used to be strictly weekday lunchtime only 12pm to 3pm. Now it is available on weekends as well and they have trialed it in evenings. Its always been fairly "cheap" one or two topping pizza like pepperoni, margerita, beef and onion, ham and pineapple on the buffet, that has been the case for 25+ years.

I thought that Pizza Hut was owned by Yum Brands which also owns KFC and Taco Bell?

Pizza Hut is owned by Yum Brands and they franchise the delivery outlets directly. The restaurants used to be run by Yum but were sold off to an operator several years ago, I think Yum were considering closing the restaurants entirely and focusing only on the delivery outlets but a buyer took on and refurbished the restaurants in the UK (when the "neon" branding came in and they added deep fat fryers so they can offer fries and similar). The delivery outlets franchised by Yum and the restaurants all operated by one franchise are operated quite seperately from each other.

 

[ComUtoR]

On the buffet the opposite is actually true. Always used to be strictly weekday lunchtime only 12pm to 3pm. Now it is available on weekends as well and they have trialed it in evenings. Its always been fairly "cheap" one or two topping pizza like pepperoni, margerita, beef and onion, ham and pineapple on the buffet, that has been the case for 25+ years.

I think you missed the joke but...

The buffet was the main selling point for Pizza Hut (after it was introduced), just like the free salad bar was with Harvester. The Buffet has gone through many iterations over the years. I remember when the salad bar used to be extra ! The Pizza choices have also evolved. Both restaurants near me use a wide selection of pizzas. The only let down is where they don't get refreshed fast enough and with the ever increasing greed of people a single pizza is often gobbled up and you are left with an empty buffet. Both my locals never used to do the buffet on a Friday or the weekend which then shifted the buffet from a late afternoon/early evening dinner choice with the kids to a more expensive lunch option so it became less competitive and stuffing pizza down your face at midday isn't really family friendly. 12pm - 3pm was kinda introduced because originally you could go there and eat all day with impunity. Customer greed and commercial restraints mean its very limiting.

Regular pizza prices are obscene, even as a takeaway/delivery option. With prices going up and quality going down, you can see why people have turned away from them. The place in my local town is practically empty and just looks and feels depressing. There is little competition for somewhere to eat and they still can't fill the place up. The one at my local shopping centre is also generally empty, although the buffet does get good patronage but as its smack bang in the food court, everywhere else just blows it away. Maybe pizza isn't as fashionable any more ?

The delivery outlets franchised by Yum and the restaurants all operated by one franchise are operated quite seperately from each other.

I popped in there a few months back and tried to order a take out. The restaurant deals didn't match what I had in my app. I was told to order from the app instead as it was from the delivery store just around the corner. As a customer this is very frustrating and certainly not unique to Pizza Hut.

 

[jon81uk]

The buffet was the main selling point for Pizza Hut (after it was introduced), just like the free salad bar was with Harvester. The Buffet has gone through many iterations over the years. I remember when the salad bar used to be extra ! The Pizza choices have also evolved. Both restaurants near me use a wide selection of pizzas. The only let down is where they don't get refreshed fast enough and with the ever increasing greed of people a single pizza is often gobbled up and you are left with an empty buffet. Both my locals never used to do the buffet on a Friday or the weekend which then shifted the buffet from a late afternoon/early evening dinner choice with the kids to a more expensive lunch option so it became less competitive and stuffing pizza down your face at midday isn't really family friendly. 12pm - 3pm was kinda introduced because originally you could go there and eat all day with impunity. Customer greed and commercial restraints mean its very limiting.

The buffet was never the main selling point, it was a way to get customers in for lunch. Its only more recently they have experimented with evening and weekend buffet to try and get extra customers as they have been struggling. The limited hours were more to do with the fact it is quiet after 3pm (too late for lunch and too early for dinner) so if they filled the buffet it would all go in the bin as there are no customers in the restaurant.

Salad always used to be included in the lunch buffet but yes was charged for dinner (per bowl not even refillable!) its only around 12 years ago they started including free salad with a main course.

Regular pizza prices are obscene, even as a takeaway/delivery option. With prices going up and quality going down, you can see why people have turned away from them. The place in my local town is practically empty and just looks and feels depressing. There is little competition for somewhere to eat and they still can't fill the place up. The one at my local shopping centre is also generally empty, although the buffet does get good patronage but as its smack bang in the food court, everywhere else just blows it away. Maybe pizza isn't as fashionable any more ?

Pizza Hut restaurant prices have gone up to a silly level recently, I don't know why they think it is worth £18 per person!
But takeaway/delivery has always been based on looking expensive but offering meal deals and similar, I've paid £18-25 for a pizza or two and some sides from Domino's or Pizza Hut for the last 22 years, if you consider how inflation and fuel costs has gone up over that time it really should cost a lot more. The restaurant prices have only spiked in the last two years really though with the Ukraine inflation.

I popped in there a few months back and tried to order a take out. The restaurant deals didn't match what I had in my app. I was told to order from the app instead as it was from the delivery store just around the corner. As a customer this is very frustrating and certainly not unique to Pizza Hut.

Even before the restaurants were sold off in 2012 the takeaway franchises and the restaurants operated seperately with slightly different menus and offers. In fact I don't think the restaurant stores did take away at all 20 years ago!

To add, here is the website in 2004 showing different restuarant and takeaway deals on the homepage and the £5.49 weekday lunchtime buffet. https://web.archive.org/web/20040525140603/http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/

 

[jon0844]

When M&S can sell two actually pretty decent pizzas and two sides for £10, you can see that Pizza delivery companies (in general) have pretty sizeable profit margins.

It's not like the poor delivery driver is getting paid a hefty chunk if it either. If they're salaried staff maybe they enjoy proper staff benefits and pay, but if they use Just-eat or the like then it's very cut throat - but the delivery companies themselves are enjoying a very nice cut no matter what. They're also forcing prices up as they sit back and let the money flood in.

Fast food has now become crazy expensive and out of the reach of many, so I assume that's the reason for the loss in revenue. Less customers isn't great when your overheads are the same or went up, so the only option appears to be to increase prices to cover the gap in sales.

I'd have thought lowering prices might help, but maybe there just aren't enough customers full stop as hple have less disposable income and high streets in many places are now swamped, albeit more likely with kebab shops that can also do pizzas of varying quality.

But, like M&S pizza meal deals and others, supermarkets now offer some decent pizzas and it's not difficult to make your own - although I don't think many people think to do that.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I wouldn't be at all upset if pizza hut and indeed most of the other chain pizza places that charge monstrous prices for questionable produce just vanished into the ether. Pizza from me now either is pizza Express or a local outlet, all of who are much cheaper and usually much higher quality

 

[dk1]

I wouldn’t want to imagine life without Pizza Hut or Dominos. Not fussed about Papa Johns.

 

[richw]

Went to Pizza Hut with the kids about 6 months ago. Buffet wasn’t keeping up with demand. Pizza was very poor, tesco value 99p 12 inch cheese and tomato are better quality in my opinion. Won’t be going back.

I wouldn’t want to imagine life without Pizza Hut or Dominos. Not fussed about Papa Johns.

I find papa johns the best of those 3, but my local independent leaves all of them behind on quality and is cheaper too

 

[dk1]

I find papa johns the best of those 3, but my local independent leaves all of them behind on quality and is cheaper too

Just goes to show everyone’s tastes are different. Only really use independents when I’m blotto so my taste buds are not really at their best as is my memory

 

[jon0844]

I wouldn't be at all upset if pizza hut and indeed most of the other chain pizza places that charge monstrous prices for questionable produce just vanished into the ether. Pizza from me now either is pizza Express or a local outlet, all of who are much cheaper and usually much higher quality

Sadly even Pizza Express seems to have had its prices leap up, although I assume they still do deals either in the restaurants at certain times or via online promotion codes and vouchers?

They also sell many pizzas in supermarkets at a very high SRP but very frequently do significant discounts and promotions, but I notice they then charge full whack for their dough balls - which are a must!!

 

[Peter Sarf]

When M&S can sell two actually pretty decent pizzas and two sides for £10, you can see that Pizza delivery companies (in general) have pretty sizeable profit margins.

It's not like the poor delivery driver is getting paid a hefty chunk if it either. If they're salaried staff maybe they enjoy proper staff benefits and pay, but if they use Just-eat or the like then it's very cut throat - but the delivery companies themselves are enjoying a very nice cut no matter what. They're also forcing prices up as they sit back and let the money flood in.

Fast food has now become crazy expensive and out of the reach of many, so I assume that's the reason for the loss in revenue. Less customers isn't great when your overheads are the same or went up, so the only option appears to be to increase prices to cover the gap in sales.

I'd have thought lowering prices might help, but maybe there just aren't enough customers full stop as hple have less disposable income and high streets in many places are now swamped, albeit more likely with kebab shops that can also do pizzas of varying quality.

But, like M&S pizza meal deals and others, supermarkets now offer some decent pizzas and it's not difficult to make your own - although I don't think many people think to do that.

Cheaper still Morrisons do quite a few different prepared on-site pizzas ready to cook for £3.50.

But I think the business of delivery of cooked food to peoples homes is booming. I have heard of a few restaurants that now only need their kitchen. Another after effect of Covid - but then I can remember when it was rare for people to eat out (1960s & 1970s). We have gone through from home cooking to eating out to eating in but minus the home cooking part. Now we can sit at home watcing TV or T'internet eating more and exercising less.

Most homes maybe only need a small kitchen or one corner of a living room - just enough for a fridge (for beer, sauces and leftovers), a microwave and a kettle (or do I mean a coffee machine ?). Heck - many people I see bringing home an expensive coffee from Costa or such like.

So I can see a few home appliance manufacturers going down. No need for a proper cooker.

 

[brad465]

I think you missed the joke but...

The buffet was the main selling point for Pizza Hut (after it was introduced), just like the free salad bar was with Harvester. The Buffet has gone through many iterations over the years. I remember when the salad bar used to be extra ! The Pizza choices have also evolved. Both restaurants near me use a wide selection of pizzas. The only let down is where they don't get refreshed fast enough and with the ever increasing greed of people a single pizza is often gobbled up and you are left with an empty buffet. Both my locals never used to do the buffet on a Friday or the weekend which then shifted the buffet from a late afternoon/early evening dinner choice with the kids to a more expensive lunch option so it became less competitive and stuffing pizza down your face at midday isn't really family friendly. 12pm - 3pm was kinda introduced because originally you could go there and eat all day with impunity. Customer greed and commercial restraints mean its very limiting.

Regular pizza prices are obscene, even as a takeaway/delivery option. With prices going up and quality going down, you can see why people have turned away from them. The place in my local town is practically empty and just looks and feels depressing. There is little competition for somewhere to eat and they still can't fill the place up. The one at my local shopping centre is also generally empty, although the buffet does get good patronage but as its smack bang in the food court, everywhere else just blows it away. Maybe pizza isn't as fashionable any more ?

I popped in there a few months back and tried to order a take out. The restaurant deals didn't match what I had in my app. I was told to order from the app instead as it was from the delivery store just around the corner. As a customer this is very frustrating and certainly not unique to Pizza Hut.

Several years ago Pizza Hut used to do all day buffets at Thorpe Park and Chessington WofA, then an unheard of "Pizza Pasta" brand took them over but still provide the same service with not really any difference. It's quite pricy but personally they do the service well IMO.

By coincidence I was eating in the Thorpe Park one when news broke the Queen's health was bad on the day of her death around 12:30 (I was back home by the time her death was announced 6 hours later).

 

[jon0844]

But I think the business of delivery of cooked food to peoples homes is booming. I have heard of a few restaurants that now only need their kitchen.

I agree, but whereas it used to be mostly only pizzas that could be delivered, Just-Eat and the like means every food place can now deliver, or even dark kitchens on an industrial estate with even less overheads and perhaps more questionable food storage and preparation conditions (hygiene inspections are still playing catch up after Covid and now there are loads of new places to check).

Given the cost of ordering in, I'm surprised so many people do it but perhaps people are working extra hard to earn a living and as a result are too tired to cook.

Ironically, if it costs £30+ to order in for a family, that's a lot of money compared to going to the supermarket and buying the equivalent meal (Tesco for one now has an aisle with all the key fast food offerings like pizza, fried chicken, Indian and Chinese).

 

[richw]

Just goes to show everyone’s tastes are different. Only really use independents when I’m blotto so my taste buds are not really at their best as is my memory

Dominos standard crust leaves me bloated and uncomfortable. It’s ok if I remember to turn to thin and crispy. But £20 for a pizza is Almost criminal.

 

[WAB]

It always amazes me that Pizza Express does so well - prices have gone up and quality down. I've seen quite a few Pizza Express branches right next to really good proper Italian places (which are always full, with the neighbouring PE resembling a graveyard)

 

[dk1]

Dominos standard crust leaves me bloated and uncomfortable. It’s ok if I remember to turn to thin and crispy. But £20 for a pizza is Almost criminal.

I feel cheated with thin & crispy. Give me deep pan any day & I’ll worry about the after effects if or when they happen.