accelerating expansion in the U.K.<\/a> after signing an agreement in 2024 with Azzurri Group. Twelve locations are open, with another 48 planned as part of the development commitment.<\/p>\nLawrence said the PizzaExpress team was impressed by the background the leadership at HHC brings to the table, and the social marketing effort they\u2019ve conducted to build brand awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at their model, they\u2019re very much focused on flavor, taste and quality, but have also proven themselves in operations,\u201d Lawrence said. \u201cIt\u2019s a strong, growing brand and people in the U.S. are buying into it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Simowitz, HHC president, said the company wasn\u2019t looking into the international market, but moved forward when contacted by the PizzaExpress team. Simowitz, who previously helmed international operations for Applebee\u2019s, noted PizzaExpress is the type of operator they\u2019re looking to team up with.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew PizzaExpress was a fantastic brand in the U.K.,\u201d Simowitz said. \u201cWe were looking for a company that understands how to build and protect an iconic brand. They spent decades earning the trust of British consumers, and it\u2019s one of the U.K.\u2019s most recognized and respected brands. A partner able to do that is the type we want to represent HHC.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the case for domestic franchise growth, too, which was restarted in 2025 after a hiatus. Simowitz said franchising had always been part of the strategy for the company, but when he was hired in 2024, a decision was made to make some improvements before increasing the development pipeline.<\/p>\n
Over an eight-month period, Simowitz said recipes were evaluated and updates were made to lower costs and improve efficiency while maintaining the quality. Additionally, the brand made shifts in its supply chain, such as ending the production of its sauces through a co-packer and bringing it in house.<\/p>\n
![\"Houston](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
New master franchisees of Houston TX Hot Chicken in the U.K. are looking to fill a gap in the fast-casual space.<\/p>\n
Following its franchise hiatus, Simowitz said the deal signings ramped back up, and by the end of 2025, agreements were signed for 206 locations. Those deals, he said, are all multi-unit, as the brand has set a minimum of three per agreement, with an average between five and seven locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking for those who either want to add on to their existing portfolio, or they\u2019ve recently exited another brand and want to get into a new concept,\u201d Simowitz said. \u201cThey\u2019re operators that are well capitalized, experienced restaurant operators.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brand today has 120 restaurants in its development pipeline, and to ensure those units get open, Simowitz said HHC has made it a point to back those franchisees through the process, and continue to lend support once a location is launched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work closely with them, not only setting them up with different brokers if they don\u2019t have one, but also going out to markets, traveling with them in site selection and providing them with a site package that they can use for the approval process,\u201d Simowitz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also built out a 700-item checklist where they can plug in the data for a location and it helps them backfill everything that has to be done. There are franchisors that sign the deal and they just leave the franchisees to get them open. We\u2019re not that franchisor.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the next six months, the brand and the PizzaExpress team are looking to open three locations as part of its new agreement. In addition to its flavor profile, Simowitz said the concept will attract customers as it grows thanks to its racing theme. Along with car racing artwork, each location opens with a car show, and from there, they host at least two car shows a year.<\/p>\n
The initial investment to open a HHC location, ranging from 2,200 to 4,000 square feet, is between $770,950 and $1.91 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston TX Hot Chicken, a Las Vegas-based fast-casual concept launched in 2021, is headed overseas. The brand, now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[127744,127746,127745,56,58,57,127743,127748,127747,127750,127749],"class_list":["post-359541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-chicken-brands","tag-chicken-category","tag-hot-chicken-brands","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-houston-tx-hot-chicken","tag-multi-unit-deals","tag-multi-unit-news","tag-pizzaexpress","tag-the-wire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}