The pizza delivery chain said it was a “difficult year for all”
Domino’s Pizza reported that its order volume dropped last year due to lower consumer confidence and higher labour costs, and it raised prices to offset those costs. As of the time of writing, a large pizza on the Domino’s website costs £25.99. However, customers who order a pizza as part of the chain’s ‘Price Slice’ deal can get one for £14 instead.
However, the pizza delivery giant says 2026 started promisingly and was anticipating a lift from its recently launched chicken sub-brand. The firm, which operates roughly 1,400 outlets across the UK and Ireland, said it processed 71.1 million orders for the region throughout the year – down 0.9% on the previous 12 months. The group’s underlying pre-tax profit tumbled 15% to £91.2 million.
System sales, which represent combined takings from both franchised and company-owned outlets, however, climbed 1.5% year on year to £1.6 billion. This uptick was fuelled by a 4% price increase, while sales volume declined by 2.5%. Domino’s said its franchisees raised prices in 2025 primarily to offset higher employment taxes, following an increase in national insurance contributions.
Domino’s interim chief executive Nicola Frampton described 2025 as a “difficult year for all”, with flagging consumer confidence weighing on order figures. “Franchisees have had to put prices up,” she told the Press Association.
“We’ve worked really hard not to do that but we’ve had some significant incremental cost flow… through the employment changes that came through,” she said, while also pointing to increases in the national minimum wage which added to the group’s wage bill.
“A lot of brands have really pulled back – they’ve either put their prices up massively or they’ve pulled back on their service. I think we’ve got the balance right in terms of how we’ve approached it.”
Ms Frampton acknowledged that the firm was aware of another minimum wage hike in April, alongside changes under the Employment Rights Act that will affect staff hours and shift patterns.
However, the company aims to offset this through smarter staff rostering, harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to more accurately predict customer demand, and benefiting as food price inflation moderates throughout the year.
Ms Frampton took the helm as chief executive following the sudden departure of former boss Andrew Rennie, who had suggested the UK pizza sector was approaching saturation, telling the Financial Times there was no “massive growth” left in this market. Last September, Domino’s unveiled its Chick ‘N’ Dip sub-brand to capitalise on the surging appetite for chicken across Britain, which has since expanded to all locations nationwide.
Ms Frampton revealed that, since assuming the top position on a temporary basis, the “only thing that has fundamentally and significantly changed is that we’re not looking for a second brand”, in reference to Mr Rennie’s earlier hints that the business was considering acquiring another food brand to accelerate its growth.
However, Ms Frampton revealed that the concept had been “parked”, as the Chick ‘N’ Dip trial “made us realise that we didn’t need to go and buy a hundred million pound brand in order to be successfully accessing the growing chicken market”.
In other news, Domino’s launched 31 new outlets in 2025 and is targeting a similar number of openings for 2026, a move which the chief executive says demonstrates “confidence” in the company and its prospects.
Ms Frampton also emphasised that Domino’s does “care” about the influence of increasingly health-conscious consumers, and is expanding its menu to accommodate those seeking “lighter portions” or “lower calorie options”. Domino’s shares experienced a boost of approximately 5% on Tuesday.
