Domino’s ups appetite for London growth

Domino’s Pizza on Friday made a bid to gobble up more of the London takeaways market, agreeing a £24 million deal to partner its biggest franchise business in the capital.

The FTSE 250 firm agreed the price with the franchisee for a 75% stake in a newly formed company, which will own the seller’s 25 existing shops, most of which are based in south-west London.

Domino’s, which has around 1000 stores in the UK, said the partnership will allow it “to take advantage of the significant growth opportunity in the London area”.

The expansion push comes after the group last month said it continues to see growth in online sales, with people now able to order through Amazon Echo.

However, the City was not impressed by Friday's news, and the shares fell by 12.8p to 267.5p.

Cenkos analyst Simon French said: “We think London is the most competitive food delivery market in the world (Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Amazon and a whole host of smaller operators) and struggle to identify the growth opportunity.”