PizzaExpress has reopened 13 of its restaurants for takeaway, some three months into lockdown.

The company announced the move earlier this week and following a delivery only trial, relaunched sites in Notting Hill, Camden, Balham, Chiswick, Belsize Park, Dulwich, Ealing, and Shepherd’s Bush, all of which will operate a click-and-collect service.

Restaurants on Abbeville Road, George Street in Croydon, the Fulham Road, and Trinity Road in Wandsworth will also offer takeaway.

The chain’s managing director, Zoe Bowley, said in a statement: “Our number one priority is to protect the safety and wellbeing of our teams and customers.

“Having undertaken a successful delivery-only trial in 13 of our restaurants, we’re pleased to be rolling this out further to click-and-collect customers in the same 13 restaurants only for the time being.

“We know that people have missed the taste of our freshly handmade pizzas and by launching the next stage of our trial, we hope to gradually and safely begin to bring the Pizza Express experience back to the UK.”

It’s a positive step for the group, which was reportedly struggling in the run-up to the pandemic.

It was rumoured that each branch of PizzaExpress was lumbered with £1m of debt, though its financial press team has told Harden’s more than half of the company’s debt is in bonds held by its parent firm in China.