TAKEAWAY CHAIN APACHE Pizza is to create 300 jobs as it plans to open 20 new stores in the next six months.

The announcement comes as the firm saw a 17% increase in sales during the first four months of the year with stay-at-home customers ordering 5.3 million pizzas during the Covid-19 lockdown.  

The new jobs will include roles as supervisors, managers, customer service representatives and delivery couriers.

The company is Ireland’s largest pizza chain employing 2,440 people across 169 stores.

Apache Pizza has also recorded a 12% growth in sales overall during 2020 which resulted in the creation of 195 new jobs and 13 new store openings last year as it strengthened its position as Ireland’s largest pizza chain.

In the UK Dominos is seeking to hire 5,000 people as temporary workers, who worked at the company during the pandemic, begin to return to their previous jobs.

The business said demand is not slowing down, despite the economy reopening, Domino’s said on Tuesday.

Operations director Nicola Frampton said the company was privileged to remain open during the lockdown period.

Martin Lyons, CEO of the company, said that 2021 is also a landmark year for Apache Pizza as it celebrates 25 years in business.

“Apache Pizza is the market leader for pizza delivery in Ireland with 169 stores wherever people want quality pizza. We are local to homes, businesses and schools. Being local is what is driving our plan to open 20 new stores and to create another 300 new jobs by the end of this year,” he said.

“Our store model is proudly focused on being local, on offering Delivery and Take-Out and on making quality, tasty pizzas which can be enjoyed anywhere at any time.

“Our online sales have grown by 12% because we invested in making online ordering easier and more accessible prior to Covid-19. We capitalised on that throughout the pandemic as people spent more time at home and ordered-in,” he continued.

Apache Pizza was founded in Dublin in 1996 by Robert Pendleton and his wife Emily Gore Grimes. The couple no longer manage the business.

It is now owned by Food Delivery Brands, the largest and most geographically diversified pizza delivery master franchiser in the world by store numbers and by OKR Group, Ireland’s leading QSR franchise operator.

Lyons said the company is also looking for new franchises as the business grows.

“Our rapid expansion into cities and towns is also being driven by our ability to offer our business partners a low-level investment opportunity, attractive profitability and a quick return on their investment.

“Consumption habits changed during the Covid-19 pandemic and we see the shift from dining out to dining in, the continuation of working from home and this summer’s theme of socialising outdoors as a positive business opportunity as we continue to grow and expand our business,” he added.

With additional reporting by PA.