Ask Central family sell off slice of high street pizza chain

The family behind Ask Central, the high street pizza restaurant chain stealing a march on PizzaExpress, yesterday sold nearly £5m of shares in the company, sparking concerns the company is also feeling the pinch in the pizza market.

Adam and Samuel Kaye, the two brothers who set up the chain, each sold 1.2 million Ask shares at 140p, netting them £1.68m. Their father, Phillip Kaye – who is a former restaurateur and helped his sons found the company – sold 400,000 shares for £560,000.

A Kaye family owned investment trust, the Emily trust, also sold 700,000 shares in Ask for £980,00.

"This is not the most optimistic sign for the company and shows they don't expect the share price to go anywhere in the short term. The company is entering in to difficult trading territory and can't defy gravity. Ask, however, does have one of the strongest brands in the market and is debt free," said one analyst.

The Kaye brothers set up Ask with one restaurant in 1993 and floated it on Aim in 1995. It now has 140 restaurants around the country and also owns the Zizzi pasta and pizza chain.

The growth of Ask has contributed to pressure on its rival PizzaExpress, which once enjoyed a stranglehold on the high street. PizzaExpress's sales have declined in the face of increased competition, and this week it received a takeover bid.

Ask plans to open 25 new restaurants this year and aims to have 350 outlets by 2004, but analysts are expecting growth to slow in the face of a downturn in consumer spending.

The company said the directors had sold the shares to "satisfy strong institutional demand and to satisfy personal tax liabilities".

Adam and Samuel Kaye now each have a holding of 6.8 per cent in Ask, reduced from 8.1 per cent. Phillip Kaye now owns 9 per cent.