The º£½ÇÊÓƵ head of Papa Johns, the popular pizza chain, has labelled the surging costs faced by his business amid a "perfect storm of difficulty."
In an appearance on City AM's podcast, Boardroom Uncovered, Managing Director Chris Phylactou emphasised the need for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to "start giving some relief to businesses" in the face of challenging times, as reported by .
The brand's chief highlighted the hike in employers' National Insurance contributions as a primary challenge since Labour assumed power last year.
The Papa Johns supremo remarked: "It's been a perfect storm of difficulty for us as a brand. But we're continuing to weather the storm by looking at selling more pizza."
He added, "So volume is the game for us, and we want to win by volume."
Phylactou mentioned, "We are actually opening new sites. We've got a pipeline of about 10 to 12 this year. And we're developing a pipeline for next year. So the brand is growing again."
Papa Johns is making money again
In the same episode, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ MD of Papa Johns disclosed the firm's ambitions to achieve profitability in 2025 after shutting down more than 40 outlets during the previous year.
Confirming progress, Phylactou stated that the company is "no longer losing money" and anticipates reporting its first º£½ÇÊÓƵ profit post-2021.
Back in October 2024, City AM reported on the º£½ÇÊÓƵ division of Papa Johns suffering nearly £20m in losses, preceding its decision to shut over 40 underperforming stores.
The division based in Milton Keynes reported a pre-tax loss of £19.9m for 2023, following a loss of £4.1m in 2022.
Accounts filed with Companies House also revealed a slight increase in turnover from £95.1m to £95.9m over the year.
The last time Papa Johns recorded a pre-tax profit in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ was in 2021, when it achieved £8.1m with a turnover of £102.3m.
