Prezzo has announced plans to close down 46 of its restaurants in the UK as part of a business overhaul - leaving 810 jobs at risk of being axed. The Italian food chain said the decision was made due to rising costs and changes in diners' habits.
The chain, which has a restaurant in Nottingham, revealed its utility expenses have risen significantly - to more than double - over the last year amid soaring energy bills. Prezzo also says it has been hit by rocketing prices of food, with inflation in the UK currently at a 45-year high.
As reported by the Mirror, the chain says the cost of spaghetti has gone up 40 per cent, pizza sauce by 28 per cent and its dough balls by 15 per cent. It comes as Prezzo has admitted its "post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped”.
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Sites that will be shutting its doors to the public include areas where footfall is still below pre-pandemic levels. While ones that will stay open, are mostly located in much busier shopping areas, including retail parks or tourist hot spots.
Staff working at Prezzo were reportedly told of the closures Monday morning (April 24), 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.”
In 2021, Prezzo closed 22 of its sites, after falling into administration in 2020 and then being bought by private equity owners Cain International. Below 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
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