So you fancy an Italian, madam? Pizza Express staff taught to flirt

The restaurant chain has called in an actor to teach the art of small talk so staff can engage better with diners. Karl James will run a series of workshops ready for the opening of an "experimental" restaurant in Richmond.

A source close to the company said: "With social media and texting reducing our face-to-face interaction, Pizza Express has enlisted a conversational expert who is incorporating flirting and unique conversation techniques."

Mr James, who runs The Dialogue Project, has been helping the company redesign its training process. Staff are now taught "how to flirt (subtly) with customers so they feel more comfortable and relaxed." Mr James's other clients include Unilever and the BBC.

The Pizza Express in Red Lion Street opens next Thursday. The firm says it will be a "living lab" where new menus, dishes and service and design concepts will be tried out. It will also open earlier to target the breakfast trade.

Angela Baron, an engagement adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, said: "Pizza Express is a fun, family-orientated business, and I can see that teaching people to engage with customers and have fun would give them a better experience."

But she warned that staff must understand exactly what they can and cannot say: "If they mean flirting in the sense of, What are you doing later when the kids are in bed?' That's not a good idea."