Trading update - Domino's Pizza

Pre-tax profit: �3.1m (+31%) Like-for-like sales: +21.4% Turnover: �43.8m (+35%) Employs 5,500 people in own and franchised stores Served 1m households Data: Year 2001

The role of the 20-person team is "much as the name suggests... to ensure that the Domino's system is executed flawlessly in all our stores", the firm said in its results statement.

The firm ensures all its stores, including franchised outlets, are refurbished or rebuilt every five years.

"All our units must convey the image and appearance we want," Friday's statement said.

Mr Hemsley said: "If we are going to have an effective marketing or TV campaign, which we have, we need to ensure that the stores are capable of handling the extra volume of orders."

Growth target

The firm, which covers the UK and Irish markets, delivered pizzas to more than 1 million households last year from its 237 outlets.

And it has targeted reaching 2.5 million households - about 10% of the total in the UK and Ireland - from 500 stores by 2006.

"We think that's well achievable," Mr Hemsley said.

Excluding areas such as sparsely populated regions, where pizza delivery would prove uneconomic, the firm believes there is a potential market of at least 10 million households overall.

"At the moment we are only serving 10% of those," he said.

He reported that trading had been "strong" so far this year, with like-for-like sales up 20.5%.

In the City, the upbeat report failed to surprise traders, who had marked Domino's Pizza shares down 4.5p to 73p by the close of play on Friday.

The shares have, nonetheless, proved among London's better performers since falling below 40p in February last year.

The firm operates the UK and Irish Domino's Pizza master franchise.

The US-owned brand, which traces its history back more than 40 years, has been brought to 64 international markets.