Domino’s Pizza has a sizzling VAT boost as sales surge

The Chancellor’s VAT cut has helped the pizza giant serve up soaring sales at Brits were lockdown and staycationed.

In the 13 weeks to 27 September Domino’s posted an 18.3% hike in the UK for like-for-like sales, as franchises sales were boosted due to the VAT cut on hot takeaway food from 20% to 5% in July.

The lockdown saw soaring demand for takeaway pizza’s, but the pressure on sales during September was hit by rivals who reopened.

Dominic Paul, chief executive of Domino’s, said: “We welcome the UK Government’s reduction to VAT in mid-July which helped franchisees mitigate costs and gave them the opportunity to pass savings on to customers.”

Wayne Brown, an analyst at Liberum, said: “What remains concerning is another 7.8% decline in order count in a period when Just Eat reported third-quarter orders up 43%.

“This is clearly unsustainable.”

Paul added,, “At the heart of our future plans is realignment with our franchisee partners and we are having detailed discussions to agree a sustainable way forward, although we continue to expect that these discussions will take some time.”