Pizza Express signage can now be seen on the building
A new Pizza Express restaurant could open in Hull city centre before Christmas. The popular chain is to open its new restaurant in Burton House, the building’s owners have now confirmed.
In August, the Hull Daily Mail reported that Pizza Express had submitted a licensing application to Hull City Council, seeking permission to open a restaurant in the iconic Grade-II listed building. A month later plans emerged for ‘Pizza Express’ signage to be placed on the building.
The Hull Daily Mail approached Pizza Express to clarify what the new restaurant would mean for their existing site in Princes Quay, just a stone’s throw from Burton House. On this, a Pizza Express spokesperson has said: “Our incredible team from our existing Hull restaurant will also be moving over to serve everyone’s favourite pizzas at our new pizzeria. We’re also proud to be creating new jobs as part of the opening, bringing more employment opportunities to the local community.”
The building, at the end of Whitefriargate, recently underwent a multi-million pound restoration which saw the building being covered in scaffolding for almost two years. The project sought to restore the building to its original 1930s art deco-style glory. Commercial property developer Wykeland Group purchased the Burton House in 2021 and has since delivered the extensive restoration to the building which has stood empty since 2020, when Burton owner Arcadia Group went into administration.
Jonathan Stubbs, Development Director of Hull-based Wykeland, said: “We’re delighted to have secured Pizza Express as our first occupier at Burton House. We embarked on this challenging restoration project with the vision of saving one of Hull’s landmark buildings from dereliction, creating a thriving commercial space in the heart of the city centre.
“The opening of Pizza Express will return the building to active use, with a much-loved restaurant brand in place. We’ve also seen strong interest in the upper floors at Burton House, underlining the demand for high-quality commercial space in a prime location.”
Central to the £2.4m restoration of Burton House was the replacement of much of the granite cladding on the building. Replacement granite was sourced from the same quarry in Norway, to match the geographical origin of the original stone, which dates back to the mid-1930s.
The building’s art deco windows have also been replaced, with new signage matching the original also introduced. On the upper floors, significant restoration work has already seen the original lift refurbished, and work has commenced on creating desirable office spaces which are ready for occupiers to move straight into.
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