Prezzo Italian Unveils New Employee Benefits to Reward Excellence and Celebrate Italian Culture

Prezzo Italian, the high street Italian restaurant group, has announced a refreshed package of employee benefits designed to reward excellence, enhance the team experience, and strengthen its connection to authentic Italian culture.

Among the new initiatives, team members who choose to holiday in Italy will receive 10% additional annual leave for their trip.

“At Prezzo Italian, we believe our people are our most important ingredient,” said James Brown, CEO of Prezzo Italian. “By giving our teams more opportunities to experience Italy first hand, we deepen their connection to our brand and ensure that authenticity is brought back into our restaurants.”

The new benefits also include:

• Head Chef Certification Programme – A new bronze, silver, and gold tier system will recognise head chefs for excellence in food specifications, handling standards, and execution quality. Assessments will be supported by AI-powered analysis of customer reviews and social media sentiment. Rewards range from £100 Amazon vouchers to hourly pay increases of 25p–£1.

• Performance-Based Bonuses – Staff will be eligible for bonuses based on scores from Prezzo Italian’s new mystery dining programme. Achieving an average of 92% or higher across four visits will unlock one-off £250 bonuses for general managers, assistant managers, and head chefs, along with a £250 shared bonus for the servers involved. Each quarter, the single highest-scoring restaurant will share an additional £1,000 reward across its leadership team and servers.

These initiatives form part of Prezzo Italian’s wider turnaround and repositioning strategy, which included a full rebrand in May, a refreshed menu, and a name change from “Prezzo” to “Prezzo Italian.”

The group currently operates 95 restaurants across the UK and is accelerating its expansion plans following a strong customer response to its rebrand. New openings have already been confirmed in Edinburgh and Rugby, Warwickshire. Alongside growth, a wide-scale refurbishment programme is underway, featuring a new design aesthetic with softer palettes, upgraded furniture, tableware, and artwork. Prezzo Italian aims to refurbish 20 restaurants by the end of this year, with a further 40 scheduled for 2025.

“We are building an organisation that rewards excellence and celebrates our people,” added Brown. “These new benefits shine a spotlight on quality, service, and passion – the foundations of customer happiness and food excellence. As we grow and evolve, this is how we ensure the very best talent chooses to build their future with Prezzo Italian.”