Loss widens at Papa Johns in UK ahead of major closure plans

The UK arm of pizza chain Papa Johns lost almost £20m in the year before it decided to close more than 40 underperforming restaurants.

The Milton Keynes-headquartered division has reported a pre-tax loss of £19.9m for 2023, having also lost £4.1m in 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its turnover nudged up from £95.1m to £95.9m in the 12 months.

The last time Papa Johns made a pre-tax profit in the UK was the £8.1m it achieved in 2021. At the time, its turnover stood at £102.3m.

The results come after the business announced in March 2024 that it would close 43 sites which had been classed as “underperforming”.

Papa Johns ‘taking proactive steps to drive profitable growth’

A statement signed off by the board said: “In 2023 we continued to navigate the effects of global disruption, ongoing geopolitical issues, staffing shortages and rises in commodity costs.

“Whilst there was an improvement in consumer confidence, this remains below pre-pandemic levels with consumers most cost conscious and more risk averse.”

Papa Johns added: “We continue our focus on building solid foundations for business growth and prioritised compliance and governance, operations procedures and brand standards, all designed to deliver an improved customer experience.

“Our success relies on the financial success and strategic alignments with our franchisees.

“Our franchisees manage their businesses independently and therefore are responsible for the day to day operations of their locations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

“Given the ongoing margin and profit challenges for our franchise partners, we continued to focus on optimising pricing/discount structures and our strategic alignment with franchisees.

“We have been taking proactive steps to drive profitable growth.

“This includes reviewing our pricing strategy, growing ticket and transactions through menu innovations, customer insights and implementing strategic pricing actions.”