2009-11-11 12:50:22 - The first restaurant at Coventry’s landmark £130million Belgrade Plaza development has arrived – and will be hoping to make a lot of dough!

PizzaExpress has opened the doors to its 164-seat restaurant to become the second active business at the site of the former Bond Street car park.

The company has had a presence in Coventry since 1997 with its existing Hay Lane site, but chose to open a restaurant double in size to attract Belgrade Theatre-goers and city centre visitors.

Natalie Green, manager of

the new PizzaExpress, said her team were excited about the launch and have already found customers to be positive.

“We’re very pleased to have opened and we’re looking forward to showing customers the new restaurant,” Ms Green said.

“The early comments we’ve had from people have been great and customers seem to like the décor and the atmosphere of the place.

“We have set-up in a very good location and we’re coming to the city at a time when it is going through a lot of positive changes.

“The Plaza in particular is going to become a place with a real buzz and that’s something we wanted to be a part of.

“We’ve been made extremely welcome in Coventry and feel really positive about the future.”

PizzaExpress first opened in 1965 with a London restaurant and now has more than 300 restaurants in the UK.

It joins Premier Inn at the Plaza and is set to be followed by Bella Italia, Gala Casinos and Metro Bar and Grill.

Tim Hurdiss, director of the Oakmoor Deeley Partnership, said: “PizzaExpress was one of the first major companies to commit to Belgrade Plaza and the restaurant looks absolutely fantastic.

“The restaurants have a reputation for high-quality food and first-class customer service and that is exactly the type of business we wanted at the Plaza.

“The investment PizzaExpress has made in the city is substantial and we have no doubt it will be a great success.”

PizzaExpress can be contacted on 02476 550026.
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Picture captions:

Pizza1 Tim Hurdiss (Oakmoor Deeley), Natalie Green (PizzaExpress), Manoj Bhardwaj (Oakmoor Deeley), Theresa Smith (PizzaExpress)

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Dan Donovan
Advent Communications
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Coventry CV1 4JA
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