24 April 2023 , 11:07
497
0
Italian restaurant chain Prezzo is to shut 46 loss-making sites with 810 jobs at risk of redundancy.
The dining chain said the closures are due to soaring costs and changes in customer habits.
Prezzo says its utility costs have rocketed by more than double over the last year after energy bills shot up.
The restaurant group has also been impacted by rising food costs, which are currently at a 45-year high.
Prezzo says it has seen the cost of spaghetti rise 40%, pizza sauce go up 28% and the cost of its dough balls increase by 15%.
'I absolutely hate when people ask to split the bill - I can't afford it'
The closures, which are part of a business overhaul, will impact sites where footfall is still below pre-pandemic levels.
The chain admitting its "post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped”.
Sites that will remain open will be those in busier shopping destinations such as retail parks or tourist hot spots.
Prezzo staff were informed about the closures on Monday morning, with a consultation process launched.
The chain says it will try and protect jobs where it can by deploying "as many staff internally as possible" and will support others in new opportunities.
After the closures, the restaurant chain will have 97 restaurants and around 2,000 staff.
In a statement, Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, said: “The last three years have been some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street and I’m extremely proud of the way our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s position as an appealing, trusted, great value food and drink experience.
“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.
“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.”
The news comes two years after the group closed 22 of its restaurants and cut 2016 jobs.
Woman baffled over restaurant's £20 fee to cut birthday cake they brought in
Prezzo fell into administration late in 2020 before being bought by private equity owners Cain International.
Here is a full list of all the Prezzo restaurants due to close:
- 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