Prezzo will shut 46 loss-making eating places because it struggles with hovering vitality and meals prices.
The transfer will put round 810 staff vulnerable to redundancy, the Italian restaurant chain mentioned, though it would attempt to redeploy “as many staff internally as possible”.
The non-public equity-owned enterprise mentioned the cuts will have an effect on websites the place “the post-COVID recovery has proved harder than we had hoped”.
After the closures, the chain can have 97 eating places and round 2,000 employees.
Dean Challenger, chief government of Prezzo, mentioned: “The final three years have been a number of the hardest instances I’ve ever seen for the excessive avenue and I’m extraordinarily happy with the way in which our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s place as an interesting, trusted, nice worth foods and drinks expertise.
“But the reality is that the cost of living crisis, the changing face of the high street and soaring inflation has made it impossible to keep all our restaurants operating profitably.”
The restaurant group mentioned that its utility payments had greater than doubled, and it has been damage by the price of meals, which reached a 45-year excessive final month.
It has seen the price of spaghetti rise 40%, pizza sauce go up 28% and the price of its dough balls enhance by 15%.
Read extra:
Inflation eases however nonetheless stays above 10% as meals prices at 45-year excessive
“We believe the tough decisions we are making today will ensure Prezzo can continue serving communities with high-quality, accessible Italian-inspired meals for many more years to come,” Mr Challenger mentioned.
The information comes simply two years after the group shut 22 eating places and minimize 216 jobs.
It fell into administration late in 2020 earlier than being purchased by non-public fairness homeowners Cain International.
The Prezzo eating places because of shut:
Beccles, Billericay, Bolton, Borehamwood, Boston, Bracknell, Brentwood, Buckhurst Hill, Buckingham, Chichester, Chingford, Colchester, Corby, Didcot, Eastbourne, Egham, Eltham, Ely, Epsom, Fleet, Glasgow, St Vincent Place, Hailsham, Harpenden, Livingston, Lyndhurst, Maidstone, Mere Green, Mill Hill, Oxford, Plymouth, Redditch, Redhill, Rugby, Shepperton, Shirley, Sidcup, St Neots, Stowmarket, Tenterden, Tunbridge Wells, Weybridge, Whitstable, Wickford, Wimborne, Winchester, Woodford Green.
Content Source: information.sky.com