Domino's has opened its 1,100th store, following a record year of sales that saw Britain's best loved pizza maker sell over 100 million pizzas for the first time.
Pizza tycoon Arshad Yasin, who started out as a delivery driver and owns Domino's first UK store, has celebrated his 20th anniversary with the company by opening the new store in Birmingham's Star City. The 49-year-old entrepreneur now owns 23 stores across the UK and employs 900 people, including several family members.
The announcement comes as Domino's reported a 9 per cent jump in revenue to £1,259.5m last year, helped by new store openings and exciting food innovations such as the best-selling Cheeseburger pizza.
The company sold a record 101,830,468 pizzas throughout 2018 - more than six every second stores were open - with the busiest week in Domino's 33 year history in the run-up to Christmas.
New store openings also contributed to the success, with 59 new outlets in the UK and Republic of Ireland creating more than 2,000 jobs.
The new site at Birmingham's StarCity entertainment complex marks another major milestone for the pizzamaker as it hits 1,100 stores throughout the UK.
It is the 23rd branch of Domino's opened by long-standing franchisee Yasin to date, but he is hungry for more with plans to open additional stores this year.
Yasin's company, AKM Pizza Limited stretches from Birmingham to Hemel Hempstead and Luton, where he runs the UK's first ever Domino's store - opened in 1985 and where he first started out as a delivery driver.
The franchise, which sold more than two million pizzas last year, is a real family business. Arshad's brother is Mujahid a partner, his son Janaid, is a store manager in Wigmore Lane in Luton and nephew Ehsaan, is a team member.
Yasin, who is from Luton, first worked for Domino's to cover a shift for another brother, Khalid. He was subsequently offered a job as a delivery driver and within two years worked his way up to become a successful store manager. He opened his first store as franchisee of AKM Pizza Limited on 15 March 1999.
In the 20 years Yasin has worked for Domino's, the business has changed significantly; total revenue has increased by £1,196m, online orders now dominate sales and their store estate has grown from 213 stores to an impressive 1,100.
Yasin commented, 'Opening the 1,100th store in the UK is a great honour, and it feels extra special that it's almost 20 years to the day since I opened my first unit in March 1999.
'I have been fortunate to have a close family on the journey with me, and I'm proud we've been able to serve local communities from Birmingham to home in Luton for so long.
'I'm as excited by our 23rd opening as I was for my first, and I look forward to delivering delicious pizza to more people for years to come.'
Scott Bush, Domino's Operations Director, said, 'In the UK, we are fortunate to work with some of the best and most successful Domino's franchisees in the world. Loyal, long-standing franchisees, such as Arshad, are the lifeblood of the business.
'They get up every day inspired to work hard to sell more pizza. They also demonstrate how it's possible to be your own boss and build a successful business around the UK's favourite pizza brand.'
Domino's results show Britain's best-loved pizza chain continued to steal market share from competitors in the pizza delivery market, selling the equivalent of 6.5 pizzas every second.