PizzaExpress
How PizzaExpress transformed the way it listens to guests, and turned that into a 200% lift in feedback volume in six months.
The PizzaExpress story
One of the most impactful entrepreneurs and philanthropists in modern British hospitality, Peter Boizot opened the first PizzaExpress on Wardour Street, Soho, in 1965. With it, he revolutionised the UK restaurant scene, bringing casual dining to the high street and shaping the way generations of Britons eat out.
Sixty years on, PizzaExpress operates hundreds of venues across the UK and internationally, and guest experience is central to how the brand competes.
The challenge
Before HGEM, PizzaExpress ran a data-led guest experience programme, but it had drifted. It was inflexible, low-engagement, and no longer producing the volume of feedback needed for meaningful analysis. Three specific problems:
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01
Engagement
The previous programme existed on paper but managers weren't using it. It felt like a compliance exercise, not an operational tool.
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02
Feedback volume
The volume of feedback coming through the previous supplier was too low for statistically meaningful analysis at venue level.
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03
Review responses
Responding to online reviews wasn't yet part of the culture, and PizzaExpress wanted to change that.
The solution
We worked closely with the PizzaExpress Insight team to redesign the programme around the culture they wanted to build, not the one they had inherited. Two components carried most of the change:
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✓
Surveys
A branded feedback experience designed to feel like an extension of PizzaExpress itself. High response rates, meaningful volume, and structured data that could feed operational reviews at every level.
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✓
Reviews
One place to see reviews across every platform, with customisable response templates that let managers reply quickly without losing brand voice.
"Since we launched our guest experience management programme with HGEM, we have transformed the culture and the way that PizzaExpress listens to customers."
Stephanie Farrow · Head of Strategy and Insight, PizzaExpress
The result
Six months after launch, PizzaExpress had transformed the culture around guest listening. Feedback volume tripled. Review response rate went from near-zero to 84%. Google ratings lifted by a quarter of a star across the estate — a marginal-looking number that translates into a materially different position in every local search result.
Most importantly, the programme became something managers use, not something they file.
Hear it from PizzaExpress
Stephanie Farrow on why the culture shift mattered more than the numbers.
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