15 Mar 2017 BVCA Announces Winners of South East Management Team Awards 2017
Rutland Partners is delighted to announce that Pizza Hut Restaurants UK has won the South-East regional BVCA award for Business Transformation Management Team.
Pizza Hut Restaurants came to the UK in 1973 after starting in Wichita USA in 1958. The American pizza dine-in restaurant and delivery outlet is known for bringing the Deep Pan pizza across the pond and for inventing the Stuffed Crust and Cheesy Bites pizzas.
Rutland Partners first invested in the household name in 2012 and has worked alongside Pizza Hut Restaurant’s management team and CEO, Jens Hofma, to successfully turn the brand around. With over 700 restaurants and outlets across the UK, the company is working to diversify and reinvest to build a stronger and more successful brand with technological and commercial updates.
The judges’ commented: “Jens Hofma and his team seized the opportunity offered to them by new private equity owners in 2012 to embark on an ambitious transformation of the brand, culture and financial performance of this business, succeeding in every department. The judges were impressed with the team’s total engagement with the company, its employees and the energy and skill deployed to achieve rapid change across 267 sites and 8,500 employees.
Charlie Johnstone, Chair of the South-East judging panel and Partner at ECI Partners LLP, said: “Over the past year we have watched UK investment thrive, and this is particularly true for London and the South-East. The BVCA Management Team Awards highlight some of the fantastic teams making their mark across the country and recognise excellence that is encouraged and supported by private equity and venture capital. Many congratulations to the winners and good luck to them in the national final.”
Mo Merali, Partner and Head of private equity at Grant Thornton UK LLP, added: “This year’s entrants represent some of the finest examples of private equity backed successes in the region and demonstrate the valuable contribution PE makes in developing a more vibrant economy. The winners ultimately stood out amongst tough competition for their achievements. Grant Thornton’s ambition of becoming the ‘go-to firm for growth’ is a natural fit with the BVCA’s Management Team Awards and we’re delighted to be supporting the programme again this year.”
Leading businesses in the South-East celebrated at the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Management Team Awards 2017, the annual celebration of the UK companies supported by private equity and venture capital funds, produced in association with Grant Thornton UK LLP. Now in their ninth year, the BVCA Management Team Awards are the only awards that celebrate and recognise brilliant business up and down the country that have been backed by UK private equity and venture capital investors. There are eight regions in total, each with their own judging panel, the South East judging panel consisted of: Charlie Johnstone (Chair), ECI Partners; Marion Bernard, Business Growth Fund; Tim Dunn, Phoenix Equity Partners; Andrew Ferguson, Baird Private Equity; Andy Strickland, Palatine Private Equity; Pete Davies, Technology Partners; Gordon Beveridge; Scottish Equity Partners; Michele Fitzpatrick, Zeus Technology; Neil Thackray, Briefing Media.
Pizza Hut Restaurants will now go forward to the BVCA national final to compete against the UK’s other regions, the results of which will be announced at the BVCA Annual Gala Dinner on 30 November in London.