Around two hundred years ago Britain was boosting its economy from the trading activities of its merchant and banking businesses in the opium/heroin trade in China. From this time were acquired the enclaves of Shanghai and HongKong. In turn many Chinese moved to the UK and the period 1950 to 1980 saw a proliferation of Chinese restaurants across the country. The return of Hong Kong to China at the end of its lease coincided with the change in trend to Thai food, the rise of pizza chains and the decrease in the number of Chinese outlets. Then last week Pizza Express was bought by Chinese investors which will once again make Chinese owned restaurants a major part of the UK catering industry and we can look forward to a chain of Pizza Express outlets across the Far East. On my last visit to Shanghai there were French/Australian etc restaurants to choose from in addition to fine dining on the Bund and now there are 10 Pizza Express outlets as well.
With the spectacular growth of our two international catering groups in China, Intercontinental Hotels and Compass Catering, it looks like we have another winning formula in Pizza Express making it more important than ever that Chinese visitors are no longer restricted by visa regulations if they need to visit the UK at short notice and trade between us can grow to our mutual advantage.
And for those of you who might want to visit the highest Chinese owned restaurant in London then visit The Shangrila Hotel in the Shard. Great food, fantastic view but not Pizza Express prices.
And if you don't like heights The Oxo Tower overlooking The Thames is another rest Chinese owned restaurant