Deliveroo has signed a deal to deliver food from one of the UK's biggest restaurant chains
The deal means that Deliveroo customers will be able to order everything from "Dough Balls" to a "Sloppy Giuseppe" straight to their home or office via the Deliveroo mobile app or website.
PizzaExpress has 460 restaurants nationwide, but only a few of its restaurants are signing up to use Deliveroo initially.
Just four PizzaExpress restaurants in the UK and six Milano restaurants in the Republic of Ireland will offer delivery through the service at launch, which takes place on Wednesday.
Deliveroo, which has reportedly been trying to land PizzaExpress as a partner since at least 2015, says it expects 40% of PizzaExpress restaurants to be offering Deliveroo delivery by the end of July.
PizzaExpress already has its own relatively small fleet of delivery bikes. It's not clear at this stage whether the company plans to keep using them, or whether it plans to phase them out as it builds its partnership with Deliveroo.
Richard Hodgson, CEO of PizzaExpress, said in a statement: "It's been our long standing ambition to deliver our much loved pizza to customers at home; however the challenge has been to find a way to deliver our products nationwide, to restaurant standard.
"Deliveroo is a perfect fit for us, as they are dedicated to providing excellent delivery logistics to the restaurant industry. They can deliver our hand-made pizzas and other dishes quickly and to an excellent standard; ensuring that our customers experience the same dining experience at home as they would in our restaurants."
Shu told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview that the deal will provide the company with a significant boost in revenue.
Deliveroo is currently available in approximately 40 UK cities but Deliveroo's UK boss told Business Insider earlier this month that he expects that number to double by the end of 2016. The service has been expanded to 12 countries with the help of $200 million in funding.
The restaurants offering delivery via Deliveroo are:
UK:
- 88-90 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LY
- 237-241 High Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3BJ
- 18 Bath House Lane, Leicester, LE1 4SA
- 3 Tony Wilson Place, First Street, Manchester, M15 4FN
Ireland:
- 6 Excise Walk, Clarion Quay, Dublin 1
- 38 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
- Unit L1, Longboat Quay, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2
- 1-2 Haddington Road, Dublin 4
- 62 Ranelagh, Dublin 6
- 19 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2