Domino’s Pizza UK – ‘we can resolve current differences with franchisees’: Domino’s Pizza UK has reported group system sales of £1,259.5m, up 9.0% on a 52 week basis – and insisted that it can resolve tensions with franchisees that is set to lead to a slowdown in store openings. UK system sales were up 7.1%, with like-for-like sales up 4.6%. Republic of Ireland system sales were up 5.2%, like-for-like sales up 4.0%. Group underlying profit before tax was £93.4m, down 1.1% on a 52 week basis. The company admitted 2019 UK store pipeline similar to 2018 at the same time last year, although actual openings likely to be lower than 2018 given ongoing franchisee discussions. Chief executive David Wild said: “We are also conscious of the inflationary environment, notably in labour. This has inevitably contributed to a period of more intense commercial discussions with franchisees, which have continued into the new year. We are confident that we will resolve our differences to the benefit of customers and maintain the long term alignment of interests that has served all parties very well for so long. Despite these inflationary headwinds and an uncertain consumer environment, franchisee profitability per store (measured across all stores) was only slightly down during the year. Solid like-for-like growth, as well as some additional support on food costs to provide compelling value for customers, partially offset inflationary pressures. We recognise, though, that many new store openings have a temporary negative impact on existing stores where franchisees are splitting territories. While the returns are still very attractive for franchisees longer term, we do provide some short term relief in the shape of incentives for new stores.” In 2018 these incentives totalled £3.4m, equivalent to £75,000 per new store that qualified. Wild added: “2018 was a mixed year. In the UK and Ireland, which account for around 90% of the business, we extended our excellent track record of growth and cash generation, responding well to the very challenging environment for the casual dining market. Our franchisees opened 59 new stores, creating more than 2,000 jobs and sold a record 102 million pizzas. We also continued investing for future growth in digital and by successfully completing our new supply chain centre in Warrington, our most significant investment to date, which supports our target of 1,600 stores in the UK. Internationally, we have experienced some growing pains which have hampered our overall financial performance. These are all good markets, with more than 100 million population, good appetites for pizza and little, if any, global brand competition. This is why we have strengthened our management teams and are committing disciplined capital to support future development. We expect an improved performance from International, with the business targeted to break even this year. I would like to thank our highly talented colleagues and franchisee partners for their ongoing dedication to the brand and our customers.”

Yumpingo partners with Deliveroo to provide guest insights to independent restaurants: Restaurant intelligence platform Yumpingo has launched Yumpingo Go, an easy-to-implement solution to gather guest sentiment and actionable insights for independent restaurants specializing in one-to-five locations, with Deliveroo as its channel partner. Deliveroo has worked with Yumpingo on this bespoke Yumpingo product for the UK, with plans to expand to other markets, to provide detailed customer insights for smaller restaurant businesses by capturing consumer feedback in-moment and adding machine learning to produce insights that transform restaurants, improve experiences and grow sales. “With Yumpingo Go, the vibrant independent sector can now take advantage of our pioneering restaurant intelligence solution at an economical cost, and with very little time investment needed – while yielding the measurable results our existing partners have seen,” said Gary Goodman, chief executive and founder of Yumpingo. “Deliveroo is a perfect partner to help deliver a new standard in restaurant intelligence to independent operators across the UK.” Implementation of Yumpingo Go will introduce big data to transform independent restaurant operations at location, shift and dish level in real-time. Yumpingo’s live, one-minute review platform typically delivers over 7,500 at-table food, beverage and service reviews per location per month to Yumpingo’s current clients , which is more than 4,000% more reviews per restaurant than Yelp, TripAdvisor, Opentable, Facebook and Google combined while also collecting thousands of customer emails. Independent brands can now use Yumpingo Go to improve their food and service with confidence, seeing what’s happening in their restaurants for the first time without having to be on-location. Dan Warne, Deliveroo, UK and IE managing director, added: “Deliveroo is in a unique position to support our restaurant partners; helping them to grow, reduce costs and improve both the dine in and delivery experience. We see Yumpingo and the insight it provides for restaurants as an absolute game changer for those who want to understand what their customers really think. We’re delighted to be partnering with Yumpingo and excited about the impact it can have on the top line of our partner’s businesses when put in place.”