Manchester independent restaurant pioneer Croma marks 15th anniversary with ODEON Cinemas partnership

The award-winning Manchester-based restaurant group Croma has sealed a deal with ODEON Cinemas to trial an innovative ‘pizza-at-the-movies’ offer at the Trafford Centre.

The ODEON partnership, called Croma Pizzapoint, will be launched at the Trafford Centre for the premiere of the new blockbuster movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 17th December.

It is hoped that following the success of this pilot, the concept – freshly baked pizza, each one made to order - is a unique product designed for audiences watching a film and will feature at many more ODEONS throughout the UK.

The partnership comes as the group celebrates the 15th anniversary this November of its first restaurant, at Clarence Street in Manchester, and the 10th anniversary of its Chorlton venue.

Along with eateries in Prestwich and Didsbury, the group, which enjoys gross income in excess of £5m pa, includes three 100-seat franchises at ODEON cinemas in Tunbridge Wells, Edinburgh and Loughborough.

Michael Baker says: “A visit to Croma is synonymous with exceptional high value and quality. Our traditional and innovative pizzas are made using the freshest ingredients, prepared and served by passionate teams.

”As we celebrate fifteen years in business, our partnership with ODEON Cinemas shows that as a group we are continually looking forward to developing new opportunities.”

Derek Nolan, Retail Director, ODEON Cinemas UK/Ireland, says: “ODEON Cinemas looks forward to building on our partnership with the launch of the CROMA Pizza Point.

“We have high hopes for this innovative food offer to take off, especially as it coincides with massive interest from audiences for the new Stars Wars movie.”

Croma led the way for numerous Manchester-based independent leisure groups, formed by founding shareholders Andrew Bullock and Bob Dunn after the pair left their Pizza Express franchise in South King Street in 2000.

Under their management, they turned it into the highest-grossing Pizza Express in the UK, setting still-unbroken records for customer numbers across the national chain.

All Croma shareholder-managers including Michael Baker (Manchester and Didsbury) and Kirsty Marshall (Chorlton and Prestwich) previously worked with Andrew and Bob at Pizza Express in South King Street.

Three years running 2011, 2012 and 2013 Croma was voted most Family-Friendly restaurant at the Manchester Food & Drink Awards. Croma is in Trip Advisor Excellence ‘Hall of Fame’ with consistently good reviews for 5 years running.

And it has just been named by the Sunday Times in its UK dining out guide as one of the top 10 best value restaurants in the North West, set to appear on 15th November.

The fifteenth birthday celebrations include a family fun day in the Chorlton branch on Sunday 8th November and a media lunch on Tuesday November 10th in Manchester. Guest of honour at the lunch will Croma’s dedicated interior designer, the legendary 94-year-old Italian artist Enzo Apicella.

The maverick illustrator splits his time between London and Rome, providing a daily cartoon for Italian newspaper. The original designer in the 1960s for the first Pizza Express venues, Enzo designs all the Croma restaurants and is behind the look of the new Croma Pizza Point in the Trafford Centre.

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Posted: Thursday 29th October 2015
ID: 2818 - 1409