Aparna Bangur, from north London, has launched Pizza Party, a social enterprise rooted in her 14-year-old autistic son Aarav’s favourite food. The business aims to support other young autistic adults into work by offering supported training in a real, commercial kitchen.
Pizza Party operates out of a working kitchen in Kentish Town and serves paying customers across Camden, Islington, Barnet, Westminster and the City of London through delivery platforms Deliveroo and Uber Eats. It doubles as a training ground for autistic young adults to develop practical skills in hospitality in a supportive, real-world environment.
Training scheme launching in September
From September, Pizza Party will welcome its first cohort of trainees through Pizza Party Prep, a supported internship scheme delivered in partnership with Mencap. Trainees will learn on the job, taking on defined kitchen and service roles, learning routines, and building the confidence needed for employment in hospitality.
Ms Bangur said: "A pizza kitchen has rhythm. Tasks can be broken into clear steps. There is repetition, but also progression. You can see what you have made at the end of it. It is real work, for real customers, in a real business. That is the bridge for us."
She added: "Not pizza magically creating independence, but a working pizzeria creating the environment in which young people can learn, contribute, gain confidence and move towards employment."
Employment challenges for autistic people
The business was born from Ms Bangur’s reflections on her son’s future and the wider employment challenges facing autistic people in the UK. In 2024 and 25, only 34 per cent of disabled people with autism in the UK were in employment, compared to 55.3 per cent of disabled people overall and 82 per cent of non-disabled people, according to the House of Commons Library.
She said: "People often tell me there must be a hidden superpower in there somewhere. Fourteen years in, we haven't found a prodigy waiting to be discovered. What we have found is a boy with a full-bodied love of food – and pizza tops the list."
The business takes its name from a family tradition. Ms Bangur said: "In our house, every pizza is a party. It doesn't matter where it comes from, how it is made or who joins in. If there's pizza, it's a party."
Expansion plans and long-term goals
The company has already hosted its first supper club at Fair Shot Café in Covent Garden. Ms Bangur is clear that Pizza Party is more than just a social enterprise, she added: "We want to be loud, colourful, commercially ambitious and genuinely desirable."
The menu features London-style pizzas made with a five-ingredient dough and a deliberately short, focused selection. After completing the internship, graduates may be offered employment at Pizza Party or placed with other hospitality businesses through a growing network of partners.
Ms Bangur said: "Our measure of success isn't how many people finish the internship. It is whether that experience opens doors. That is what we mean by a slice of independence. Skills. Confidence. Earning your own money. Having somewhere you are expected, valued and useful. Not another workshop about work."
The long-term aim is to open a permanent pizzeria where autistic young adults are visible, valued, and employed in meaningful roles. Ms Bangur said: "We want people to order from Pizza Party, not only because the pizza is excellent, but when they discover what else their order is helping us build, hopefully that gives them another reason to come back. Come for the pizza. Help us make more room at the table. Everyone’s invited."
