Dominos Pizza serves up "resilient" lockdown trading figures as sales increase 5.5 per cent

An international fast food chain has announced that it saw stronger than expected trading during the UK’s lockdown.

Dominos Pizza, which has more than 1,000 stores across the country, saw sales increase by 5.5 per cent in the second quarter of the year, jumping from £596m in 2019 to £628.9m.

During lockdown, the chain shut down its ‘collection’ option, resulting in an 87 per cent drop in collections during Q2 and a 22 per cent increase in delivery orders.

The company is also focusing on its “evolution to a digital business”, with online sales up by 15 per cent and app sales up 19 per cent.

Dominic Paul, CEO, commented: “I am pleased to report a resilient first half performance. Throughout these unprecedented times we have focused on doing the right thing for our customers, colleagues, franchisees and communities.

“We view it as a privilege to have been able to stay open throughout the period. I have been hugely impressed by the hard work, dedication and agility of our colleagues and our franchisee partners to keep Domino’s delivering, and I would like to say a big thank you to the entire team.”

Under previous management, the company had experienced rows with franchisees over profit sharing, and Dominic is aiming to resolve this.

“We have an amazing brand, an exceptional supply chain, highly experienced franchisee partners and a dynamic and responsive model. The relationship with our franchisees is challenging and this situation dates back several years.

“Although I expect this to take some time to resolve, our performance during the period is a great demonstration of what we can achieve when we work together.

“Fundamentally our interests are aligned and I am hopeful that the long-term strategic plan we are currently working on will pave the way forward for a more constructive working relationship to the benefit of all parties.

“The macroeconomic, consumer and competitive backdrop for the second half of the year contain considerable uncertainties.

“Our system demonstrated responsiveness and agility in meeting the challenges presented through the lockdown period, although that did come at some inevitable and, in certain areas considerable, incremental costs.

“While trading in the first few weeks of the second half has been encouraging, it is too early to conclude on how consumer behaviour will evolve. We look forward to the remainder of the financial year, and to the long-term future of the business, with confidence in the strength of the brand and our operations.”