The team at the Domino’s Pizza takeaway in Bundaberg shot into the Guinness Book of World Records by making 837 pizzas in just one hour on Saturday night, meaning the pizza makers turned out more than 13 pizzas every minute in order to clinch the new record.

The record breaking team of pizza makers also clinched another title, this time a new Domino’s Pizza record for the most pizzas made and sold in a week after the branch churned out a whopping 25,000 pizzas in just seven days.

The store manager of the Bundaberg branch of Domino’s Pizza, Deeana Gatti, said her team were absolutely thrilled to have set not one, but two world records. The manager of the Queensland franchise said 120 team members from across Australia and also as far afield as New Zealand came together at the store for the record breaking attempt.

While the Domino’s Pizza branch succeeded in scooping two world records over the last week, they did miss out on a third record for the “most pizzas made in 24 hours by a team” which they narrowly avoided winning. However, not ones to be defeated, Bundaberg’s Domino’s Pizza are planning to re-attempt this record later in the year.

Shares for Domino’s are 6% higher compared to the same time last year, after the pizza provider announced their full year profits for the company would be in line with market expectations, which currently stands at £42.2 million.

Strong sales in the run up to Christmas helped Domino’s achieve impressive full year figures with the home pizza delivery provider reporting total orders of £145 million in the 13 weeks leading up to Christmas, £53.1 million of which were online sales. The figures are 9.5% higher compared to the same period 12 months previously.

Saturday night TV shows, such as the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, helped keep people at home on the weekends and ordering pizzas, which helped boost sales figures for Domino’s further. The economic downturn is still having an effect on the dining habits of Brits as many choose the cheaper option of a takeaway on the sofa as opposed to a night out in a restaurant.

Domino’s new Chief Executive says the business will be looking forward to 2012 with optimism, with plans to nurture growth further with the development of new products and the introduction of Domino’s branches in new locations.

Figures released by the leading home pizza delivery company showed that in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the last 13 weeks leading up to Christmas, Domino’s stores in the UK that have been open for more than 12 months showed a 3.6% increase in like-for-like sales compared to the previous year.

As well as reporting a healthy boost in sales to end the year, Domino’s Pizza also succeeded in expanding its empire further in the UK with the launch of 62 new stores throughout the country and plan to open a similar number in the coming year. This brings the UK’s number of Domino’s Pizza stores to 726 stores in Britain.

Overall comparable sales for the year were up by 3% with Domino’s benefitting further from the economic downturn and the eating habits of the nation as more and more people opt to order a takeaway than dine out at a restaurant. Value for money deals at Domino’s such as the Two for Tuesday offer and Buy One Get One Free deals have also helped the pizza grow revenue.

Lance Batchelor has taken over from Chris Moore as Chief Executive Officer for Domino’s Pizza.<http://www.dominos.co.uk/>  This change in management is effective from today [Monday, December 26].

Lance brings with him a breadth of experience from fast moving consumer brands such as Amazon.com, Vodafone and Tesco.  He joined the Domino’s PLC Board of Directors in July 2010 then became Deputy Chief Executive in June 2011, so he has been part of the Domino’s story for 18 months.  Lance has spent the last six months working alongside Chris Moore to become familiar with everything Domino’s, including the detailed operations of the business. He attended Domino’s own Franchise Development Course, the challenging three-week training course for new franchisees, which covers all aspects of running a Domino’s Pizza store.  Lance fully immersed himself into the fine art of pizza-making as well as getting to grips with running the Company from the floor up.  He has spent much of his time getting to know the franchisees and the head office team members and has been familiarising himself with the brand and its history.

Lance Batchelor said: “It is a great privilege to take over as CEO for Domino’s Pizza PLC.  Domino’s has a very simple winning formula: we provide our customers with fresh, tasty, hot pizza in as quick a time as possible.  I am looking forward to driving growth, contributing new ideas and developing new concepts for the business.  Domino’s has earned an excellent reputation as the UK’s leading pizza delivery company and I intend to keep us there.  In tough times the best companies thrive, and Domino’s is well positioned for growth.”

Also a change for Domino’s is that the Company’s head office team moved into a new, state of the art office in December.  Domino’s eye-catching new headquarters is located at West Ashland in Milton Keynes.  It sits alongside the company’s recently constructed commissary facility, which opened in July 2010.

The company outgrew its previous office facilities which were based in Kingston, Milton Keynes.  The new building comprises 2170m2 office space, set over three main floors with a lower ground floor main entrance, striking reception area and a penthouse board room.  The building also contains a test kitchen where Domino’s development ideas come to life and exciting new products are created for addition to the menu.

The Buckingham Group was commissioned to design and build this new head office, which is phase two of Domino’s move to West Ashland.  The new offices and commissary are designed to support Domino’s expansion plans and its goal of 1200 stores in the UK & Ireland by 2021.

Like the commissary building, this new office has been built to BREEAM standards (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) and has been given a rating of excellent.  The BREEAM environmental assessment aims to minimise environmental impact by ensuring sustainable best practices are in place, helping to lower costs through efficiency.

To achieve the BREEAM rating of excellent it is not just technical aspects of the building that are considered, the rating also includes key aspects designed to improve health, wellbeing and general comfort to its users.

The building utilises modern mechanical heating and cooling systems, fully integrated with natural green ventilation systems.  These systems, that will enhance the building’s energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint, are controlled through an intelligent, direct, digitally-controlled building management system. It also contains and internal bicycle storage facility to encourage employees to bring their bike to work.

Lance Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer for Domino’s Pizza commented: “This impressive new building will ensure that we are prepared for future growth and allows us to better service all our franchisees and stores.  It’s an inspiring working environment for our employees.”

Tim Brown, Director of Buckingham Group, said: “We are delighted to have been given the opportunity by Domino’s Pizza to design and construct its new headquarters building.  We have worked closely with the Domino’s team to convert the stylish contemporary design concept into an impressive landmark building, of which we are justifiably proud.”

The annual 11^th Google Zeitgeist list charts the most searched for terms on the search engine throughout the last year, with Pizza Hut coming in first place for the food industry for US searches, with Domino’s and Papa John’s as runners up, while Starbuck and McDonalds came were placed in fourth and fifth place respectively which demonstrates that the pizza market has been especially buoyant in 2011 as the top three restaurants are all pizza related.

While pizza was the hot topic on search engines for American Google users, the trend was also evident in Mexico, Germany and Singapore where pizza related searches were also found to be topping the annual poll.

Another fast food provider, KFC, also made a splash online this year in New Zealand when its Double Down burger debuted in the country in May. The bun-less burger succeeded in breaking sales records after it was released in the States, and its popularity obviously spread to New Zealand as it featured on the most searched term on Google’s Zeitgeist list for 2011.

As well as requesting an extension to their current opening hours, which are 1:30 am Monday to Saturday and 11:30pm on Sunday, the home pizza delivery branch have proposed a change to the times their ingredients are delivered. Currently Domino’s in Bath are only allowed to receive stock deliveries between the hours of 9am – 3pm, however the branch argues this is the busiest time of the day for traffic and are requesting that their delivery hours be altered to between 6am-8am when the area is less busy.

Domino’s say they have been in consultation with the local residents’ association over the proposed changes to their operating and delivery hours as the pizza outlet say they take their responsibility as a neighbour very seriously.

Domino’s Pizza in Bath have sent their application to the local council who are considering the takeaway’s request to remain open, serving customers either over the counter or via their delivery service, until 5am.

The extended opening hours would allow the branch of Domino’s to better serve the needs of its community, the outlet argues, offering the chance for customers to use their services at a time which is convenient for them. The 5am opening extension would also create new jobs at the Bath premises of Domino’s Pizza which currently employs a workforce of 50 people.

The Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food association seeks to recognise and reward the suppliers and restaurants working within the Italian cuisine industry in the UK. The accolade is especially significant for Domino’s as this year’s trophy marks the second time in a row that the home pizza delivery expert has collected the award.

The PAPA judging panel were looking for companies which excelled in a number of specific areas when searching for this year’s winner for the pizza delivery category. Only chains with 10 or more branches were eligible to compete, with the PAPA judges looking for a company which provides the very highest standard of customer service, top quality ingredients and a quality product, a commitment to providing a superior standard of delivery to the customer and also new product development.

Domino’s were singled out as this year’s worthy winner with PAPA highlighting the global companies impressive growth over the last 12 months and also their ambitious plans for the future as their main reasons for awarding this year’s trophy to Domino’s.

If you’re also a big fan of the UK’s Top Pizza Deliver Chain, then don’t miss out on Global Domino’s Day tomorrow (December 8^th) which will see Facebook fans of the pizza provider rewarded with a 50% discount off menu prices for orders placed online.

The Global Domino’s Pizza Day will take place this Thursday December 8^th across all 19 participating countries including the UK and America. The 50% discount offer will run until midnight on Thursday and is open to all Facebook fans of Domino’s Pizza.

To claim the exclusive discount pizza lovers need to “like” the official Domino’s Pizza Facebook page for their country of residence, after which they’ll be directed to a special tab which will give instructions on how to join the global pizza party and make their Domino’s order online and claim their 50% discount.

Domino’s Pizza say the Global Pizza Day will enable pizza fans across the globe to connect via the brand’s social network. Fans of the Facebook page will also be able to see how many people have also joined the party in different continents and countries so they can watch first hand as the Global Domino’s Day grows and attracts more and more fans. Domino’s are also encouraging their loyal customers to spread the word on Twitter by tweeting #GlobalDominosDay

Deliveries to the store in Pulrose on the Isle of Man were unable to reach the branch after a number of scheduled crossings from Douglas to Heysham were cancelled due to dangerous sailing conditions.

The official Facebook page for the Domino’s Pizza branch in Pulrose, Isle of Man, issued a statement to warn its customers about the unscheduled closure of the store on Wednesday, November 30^th. The branch of the home pizzas delivery chain said they were forced to close temporarily as they rely on fresh ingredients to create their pizzas and because they had not received a delivery due to the cancellation of the ferry crossings, they had completely run out of supplies to make their famed pizzas.

According to latest reports, the ferry sailing times should be running as normal today and the Domino’s Pizza branch on the Isle of Man say they hope to be back up and running in time of tea time so pizza lovers in Pulrose won’t have to go without their Domino’s fix for too long.

Domino’s have identified India as an area of growth and recognise the opportunities to further develop the worldwide brand in the country. The pizza delivery company currently operates 411 stores throughout India, dominating the home delivery sector by controlling 70% of the market share.

Domino’s are also planning to open their 500^th store during 2012 as the company succeeded in opening 100 stores in the last 15 months, so by that same comparison, another 89 stores within 12 months in attainable. According to the most recent plans from Domino’s, the pizza provider plans to open 80 stores annually in order to meet its newly set target of doubling its number of outlets by 2017.

The Domino’s brand appears to be performing very well in India with the pizza provider opening a number of outlets with popular dining areas offering customers the chance to eat-in, however despite the encouraging response to the dining facilities at the Domino’s braches in India, home pizza delivery remains its core service.

While Domino’s is looking to expand in India, other pizza operators are also eyeing up the India market as Pizza Express have outlined plans to open their first restaurant in India in early 2012, with Mumbai or Delhi earmarked as possible locations for the first Pizza Express in India.