Wagamama and Frankie & Benny's owner to shut 35 more restaurants as losses widen

08 March 2023 , 09:34

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Up to three restaurants will be converted into Wagamama (Image: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)

The owner of restaurant chains Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito has revealed plans to shut around 35 loss-making sites.

The Restaurant Group (TRG) will reduce its estate by about 30% - with up to three of the sites to be converted to Wagamama over the next two years.

The rest will be sold or the leases will be exited or left to expire.

TRG confirmed the chains affected will be Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito, while its Wagamama brand will not see any closures.

It comes after the group announced its pre-tax loss widened to £86.8million last year, compared to £35.2million in 2021, as the cost of living dug into its profits.

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However, sales jumped to £883million last year, up from £636million the previous year.

TRG also owns Brunning and Price pubs, American food chain Coast to Coast and steak and burger brand Firejacks.

Andy Hornby, chief executive of The Restaurant Group, said: "We've delivered a strong operating performance for the year in a market which has continued to pose a number of headwinds for casual dining operators.

"Current trading has been very encouraging to the great credit of our teams who continue to ensure our customers receive the best experience possible.

"We have a clear plan to increase EBITDA margins over the next three years and deliver significant value for all our stakeholders."

TRG has already closed hundreds of its restaurants over the years following the coronavirus pandemic.

At least 61 Chiquito restaurants were closed in 2020, while 125 Frankie & Benny’s locations were also shut for good.

But TRG is far from the only restaurant brand to have struggled in recent years.

Byron Burger announced it was to close 31 of its sites in 2020, which left the group with around 21 restaurants still standing.

At the beginning of 2023, it was reported that Byron was to close a further 10 sites as part of a huge overhaul of its business.

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The Casual Dining Group, which owns Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas announced it had gone into administration in 2020.

The group later announced that 33 Bella Italia sites were to close, 31 Cafe Rouge restaurants would close, 11 Las Iguanas, and three Belgo.

More recently, pub chain Wetherspoons announced in 2022 that it would be closing a total of 39 pubs due to soaring inflation.

We've got a list of all the restaurant chains that have closed branches here.

Levi Winchester