James Moore: Pizza Hut's dough is looking very soggy

Outlook Poor old Pizza Hut. The US-owned chain just can't seem to make a success of its brand on this side of the pond. Figures from Companies House show the UK business has made a loss for the last three years.

What's gone wrong? Pizza Hut wasn't exactly talkative yesterday, but it blamed tough trading conditions and declining consumer confidence. Tough trading conditions and declining consumer confidence are not, it has to be said, unique to Pizza Hut. They're what every business in Britain is having to live with and haven't stopped Domino's which, despite hardly being the cheapest, just seems to go from strength to strength. It comes across as feisty and dynamic while Pizza Hut just seems, well, rather tired. It (briefly) tried to change the topping – laughably converting some branches to "Pasta Hut", but that went down like soggy dough. So it's back to the tried and tested tactic of investing in new products and upgrading restaurants to add a bit of hot sauce to the business.