Domino's Pizza Group plc is a United Kingdom-based master franchise of international

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

pizza delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...

chain Domino's. The company is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index, also called the FTSE 250 Index, FTSE 250, or, informally, the "Footsie 250" , is a stock market index that consists of the 101st to the 350th mid-cap blue chip companies listed on the London Stock ...

History

The Domino's Pizza company was founded in 1960, by American entrepreneur

Tom Monaghan Thomas Stephen Monaghan (born March 25, 1937) is an American entrepreneur and Philanthropy, philanthropist who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He also owns the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor Charter Township, Michigan, and owned the Det ...

as a single pizzeria in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

. The first store in the UK opened in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

in 1985. The master franchise for the British Isles was sold off by the parent company in 1993 to Domino's Pizza Group, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the International Franchise Systems

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

controlled by sibling investors Colin and Gerry Halpern. The company partially floated its shares on London's

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market, Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in opera ...

in October 1999, by which time it had expanded to a network of almost 200 branches (of which all but eight were franchises). Certain investors such as Colin Halpern and property entrepreneur Nigel Wray retained significant stakes at this time. The company opened its 400th store in Wadsley Bridge,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in November 2005. The 500th store opened in the end of 2007, in Hatfield, with the 600th following in December 2009, in

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

, being opened by Stavros Flatley. The Domino's share transferred from AIM to the main market of the London Stock Exchange in May 2008, and was promptly added to the

at the next quarterly review the following month. The 2000th European Domino's store was opened at ''Kier Park'', in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

in August 2013.

Germany

In April 2011, the group acquired a majority stake in the exclusive master franchise to own, operate and franchise Domino's Pizza stores in Germany. there are over 330 stores in Germany. The first German store opened in Berlin in 2010, and today, the company has five in the city. Other store locations also include Bonn and Aachen. The Domino's store in Cologne was one of three stores opening on that day, which were recognised as the 5,000th international store for Domino's Pizza Inc. The other two 5,000th stores were Rio de Janeiro, Brazil & Penang, Malaysia.

Switzerland

On 24 September 2012, Domino's Pizza Group acquired Domino's Pizza Switzerland AG, which provides the company with the exclusive right to operate and franchise Domino's stores in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, as well as an option to acquire the Master Franchise Agreement for Austria. In 2021 the loss-making chain was sold for CHF 300,000 to an undisclosed buyer.

Operations

Prospective franchisees are required to pay approximately £280,000 to the parent company for the right to operate their own Domino's Pizza outlet. Once established, the group also provides other services for the franchisee including production of

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

, sourcing and delivery of

ingredient In a general sense, an ingredient is a substance which forms part of a mixture. In cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a dish, and the term may also refer to a specific food item in relation to its use in different re ...

s and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

. The group also delivers IT,

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

and other administrative services on behalf of the franchisees. Domino's has a central commissary system which makes dough, and supplies this and other ingredients to each store.

Financial information

: - Accounts to 2005 prepared according to United Kingdom

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Publicly traded companies typically are subject to rigorous standards. Small and midsized businesses often follow more simplified standards, plus any specific disclosures required by their specific lenders and shareholders. Some firms operate on t ...

. Accounts from 2006 onwards prepared according to

International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's fi ...

Shareholder structure

Many of the principal

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s of Domino's Pizza Group are individuals connected with the company including long term investor and non-executive director Nigel Wray and former owner Colin Halpern. A total of 0.35% of shares are held in

treasury stock A treasury stock or reacquired stock is stock which is bought back by the issuing company, reducing the amount of outstanding stock on the open market ("open market" including insiders' holdings). Stock repurchases are used as a tax efficien ...

by the Domino's Pizza Group Employee Benefit Trust.

Products

In May 2012, Domino's signed up to Out of Home Calorie Labelling Pledge, which is part of the Government's Responsibility Deal. This saw the introduction of calorie information on Domino's main ordering website. In June 2012, the company signed up to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement managed by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the Government funded organisation responsible for improving waste reduction and recycling. In November 2012, Domino's launched a gluten free pizza in its stores in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, accredited by Coeliac UK.

Labour issues

In September 2007, the current affairs programme ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'' reported on the alleged poor treatment of Domino's Pizza employees. Some of the deductions made by the company included the costs of insuring the cars used to deliver pizzas, and one worker was deducted all her wages for the first week of work because the franchise designated it "unpaid training". Then

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Stephen Hemsley, denied that such issues were systemic within the franchise network. Domino's Pizza Group's operations in the United Kingdom extensively use zero-hour contracts.

Sponsorship

Domino's Pizza was the sponsor of episodes of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' on Sky1 between 1998 and 2008. In July 2007,

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

introduced a ban on fast food advertising, around programmes aimed at under sixteens. This resulted in the advertising being dropped for a brief period, but later resumed. In April 2008, when reintroduced, the advertising subsequently became more brand focused, rather than promoting specific products. In October 2008, the company announced that its sponsorship of the show would come to an end. Domino's has also sponsored the second, third and fourth series of '' Britain's Got Talent''. Orders received on the night of the 2008 Final were around a third above those of a typical Saturday night. In June 2011, Domino's sponsored '' Red or Black?'', a new game show presented by Ant and Dec. In December 2016 it became the sponsor of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

''.

Digital strategy

In August 2007, Domino's became the first pizza company in the United Kingdom to launch a service that allows customers to order pizzas by text message. In May 2010, it launched a widget for social network sites, allowing any user with a blog,

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

account to promote Domino's Pizza, and receive a cash reward every time an order is placed through the widget. Domino's iPhone ordering app was introduced in January 2011, and took £1 million in its first three months. In June 2011, the company launched Android and iPad apps. A Windows Phone 7 app followed in 2012. The company also makes use of discount codes. Domino's growth in e-commerce continues with 61.5% of all United Kingdom delivered sales (2012: 56.1% of United Kingdom delivered sales) coming via the internet. Sales taken through all online platforms were up in 2013, by 28.2% to £338.0m (2012: £263.7m) and, of this, 30.9% was taken through a mobile device (2012: 19.7%).

References

External links

*
Profile at Google Finance
{{Authority control Restaurants established in 1985 British companies established in 1985 British subsidiaries of foreign companies UK and IRL Pizza chains of the United Kingdom 1985 establishments in England Pizza franchises Companies based in Milton Keynes Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange 1999 initial public offerings Companies in the FTSE 250 Index