Trendy pizza chain could bring shipping container drive-thrus to Edinburgh and Glasgow

A trendy restaurant chain plans to bring the “UK’s first freshly cooked pizza drive-thru” concept to seven retail park locations including Edinburgh and Glasgow.
By Scott Reid
Published 17th Jul 2020, 12:30 BST
Updated 17th Jul 2020, 12:43 BST
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The pizza firm is looking to expand beyond its city centre sites.The pizza firm is looking to expand beyond its city centre sites.
The pizza firm is looking to expand beyond its city centre sites.

Property firm Colliers International has been hired by @pizza to identify suitable shipping container sites for the drive-thru outlets. Key locations initially include Scotland’s two largest cities and Birmingham.

The brand is rated as the number one pizza restaurant on Trip Advisor in Edinburgh, where it currently trades from a site on Charlotte Lane in the West End, and in Grand Central, Birmingham.

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The drive-thru sites will be able to make up to ten pizzas every minute via high-tech conveyor ovens, which promise 150 per cent higher capacity than the traditional wood fired oven method.

The pizzas are healthy, calorie counted, low sugar and carb, have gluten-free options and there are 858 vegan combinations to choose from.The pizzas are healthy, calorie counted, low sugar and carb, have gluten-free options and there are 858 vegan combinations to choose from.
The pizzas are healthy, calorie counted, low sugar and carb, have gluten-free options and there are 858 vegan combinations to choose from.

Tom Beaumont, associate director, licensed and leisure, at Colliers International, said: “The shipping container drive-thru units are set to be situated in car parks, taking up the size of roughly five to seven vehicle spaces.

“Customers will be able to order via an app with the option of collection or delivery to their vehicle.

“The cost of opening is circa £120,000 per site, compared with £650,000-plus for a restaurant so this is a particularly attractive option for restaurant brands as a way to move forward and attract new customers nationwide during the current pandemic.”

Bhasker Dhir, chief operating officer and co-founder at @pizza, said: “These drive-thrus will bring quality and speed together as one, offering everything anyone could want from somewhere serving pizza, 24 hours a day, whatever the occasion, whatever your age and whatever combination of toppings floats your boat.

“Last year, customers waited an average of 255 seconds in a drive-thru lane. With a 90-second cook time and an ability to cook ten pizzas per minute, @pizza can perform well within those averages.

“Even before the Covid pandemic hit, between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of some certain quick serve restaurant’s sales came from drive-thru lanes.”

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Related topics:EdinburghGlasgowBirminghamScotland
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