Imbiba invests in Pizza Pilgrims

Imbiba has invested £3.5m into Pizza Pilgrims, the London-based pizzeria concept founded by Thom and James Elliot, to aid its future expansion plans.

The investment from Imbiba will further support Pizza Pilgrims’ expansion plans, with four new sites confirmed for the current year in Lower Marsh, Waterloo; Queensway, Bayswater; Old Quebec Street, Marble Arch; and Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park. The first three of these sites will open under the company’s eponymous brand, while the latter will open under its fledgling New York City-influenced Slice by Pizza Pilgrims concept on the former Quality Fish Bar site.

The company, which operates one regional site in the Oxford Westgate scheme, launched the first Slice site in December as a 12-month pop-up on the former YO! site at Festival Riverside, Royal Festival Hall. During the course of the covid-19 crisis, the brand has evolved from pizzeria sites, moving into e-commerce with the launch of Pizza in the Post and debuting the new Slice concept.

Imbiba’s investment will look to propel growth across all three areas of the business. James Elliot said: “It’s been a mad journey from a Soho market stall to 14 pizzerias across London and we are very excited for the next chapter of our pilgrimage. The team at Imbiba are a perfect fit for us and have a genuine passion for food and restaurants. We feel very confident they are going to help us grow, but in the right way. The most important thing is that we keep the pizza and the company culture we’ve developed over the past ten years at the front of everything we do.” Darrel Connell, partner at Imbiba, who has joined the Pizza Pilgrims board, said: “It’s so exciting to be working with such a creative and personal business, led by Thom, James and their amazing management team. Their passion for what they do is so clear and it shows in everything they do.”