Peter Boizot

Peter Boizot, MBE (born 16 November 1929) is an English entrepreneur, restaurateur, politician, art collector and philanthropist. He is most well known as the founder of PizzaExpress.

Early years

Boizot was born, educated and currently lives in Peterborough, England. He was educated at King's School, Peterborough and later became head boy. In his childhood he stopped eating meat. He has remained a vegetarian ever since.

Education

Boizot attended King's School in Peterborough where he was head boy. In 1953, Boizot earned an Honours Degree in History at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Boizot received an Honorary Degree at Loughborough University in 2000 in recognition for his successful business acumen and career, and for his contributions to Peterborough.

PizzaExpress

Boizot founded PizzaExpress in 1965, after travelling through Europe and noticing that he was unable to eat an authentic pizza slice in London. Boizot floated PizzaExpress on the London Stock Exchange in 1993. His first restaurant opened in Soho, London, to much acclaim with a second PizzaExpress opening in 1967. It grew quickly because of its authentic Italian taste and unique artistic approach. Whilst having sold his share of PizzaExpress, Boizot continues to be involved in the business, where he is currently holds position of President.

Politics

He was an active supporter of the Liberal Party. He twice stood as the Liberal candidate for Peterborough at the General Elections of February and October 1974.

Charity

In 1977, Boizot created the Veneziana pizza in his PizzaExpress restaurant to gain attention to and raise funds for Venice in Peril. 5p from each Veneziana pizza sold would be donated to the charity, a charity set up to raise funds to restore and conserve works of art and architecture in Venice. This charity initiative still exists at all PizzaExpress restaurants, but the amount donated has increased to 25p from each pizza. Boizot's efforts have raised over £2,000,000 to date. For his Venice in Peril charity efforts, in 1996, Boizot was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Peterborough

Boizot is locally renowned as 'Mr Peterborough' because of the work and funds that he has put back into his hometown of Peterborough. He purchased and then modernised his favourite local haunt, the Great Northern Hotel in 1993. In 1997 he bought the ailing Peterborough United Football Club and invested £5 million into its resurrection. Boizot acquired the former Odeon cinema building in 1996 and transformed it into a multi-purpose entertainment venue complete with theatre, concert and conference rooms.

Jazz

Boizot is an avid jazz fan. He opened his first jazz club, the PizzaExpress Jazz Club in London's Soho district in 1969, whilst founding the Soho Jazz Festival several years later. He then opened another two PizzaExpress Jazz Clubs across the UK. These jazz clubs have played host to greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sting, Norah Jones and Jamie Cullum.

Art

Boizot began collecting art from an early age and has incorporated art into many of his ventures. At PizzaExpress and the jazz clubs he commissioned pop artists such as Sir Peter Blake, Eduardo Paolozzi and Enzo Apicella to fill the walls of the establishments.

In 2004, St Catherine's College, Cambridge presented Boizot with a portrait by artist Suresh Patel in recognition of his contribution to the University.

In 2011, Boizot sold the majority of his art collection near his hometown of Peterborough. He worked with Enzo Apicella, a well-known restaurant designer, who has been credited with being the visual architect of PizzaExpress.

Book

At the age of 84, Boizot turned his life story into the 2014 autobiography Mr Pizza and All That Jazz. The work, which was written with journalist Matthew Reville, received positive reviews.