January saw the British Franchise Association publish its 22nd annual survey. The number of commercial failures fell to the lowest recorded in the history of the survey, highlighting franchising as a safe route to setting up your own business. One month later, Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc Preliminary Results revealed a system sales increase of 15.1% to £200.7m, 50 stores opened and no store closures in 2005.

Research from Domino's Pizza and The Future Foundation in February predicted that the convenience and takeaway market will grow by 70% from 2005 to 2015. This is due to increased trust in online purchasing, the introduction of new e-commerce platforms, mounting consumer time pressures and the popularity of at-home leisure activities. The first Simpsons product, The Ay Carumba Fajita Pizza also hit the ovens.

Things heated up in May during the World Cup when Domino's Pizza launched their advertising featuring footie star Michael Owen.

In June Pali Grewal from Andover became the UK and Ireland's Fastest Pizza Maker. He beat the previous world record of 1.09 minutes by making three perfect pizzas in an amazing 1.06 minutes!

Domino's Pizza UK & IRL plc announced its interim results in July revealing that profit before tax increased 24.5% to £6.3m with e-commerce now representing 12.3% of its delivered pizza sales in the UK.

Meanwhile, research by Domino's Pizza and the Make Your Mark Campaign in September revealed that the business world is discouraging more young people from starting up their own enterprises by using jargon. Eighty five per cent of the 18 to 30 year olds surveyed said that learning more about the success stories of enterprising young people would inspire them to set up their own business.

In October Antony Tagliamonti, a 27-year old who started out as a Domino's pizza delivery driver, became the youngest 'Franchisee of the Year' in the history of the awards. The following month, Domino's Pizza was named Chain Pizza Delivery Operator of the Year and Overall Operator of the Year at the Pizza Pasta and Italian Food Association's Awards.

In November Domino's announced its new charities of choice, Special Olympics Great Britain and Special Olympics Ireland, which provide year round sport training and competition for people with learning disabilities.

Domino's local store owners provided some festive cheer for people wanting to earn some cash in the run up to Christmas by announcing the creation of 800 temporary positions in total.