Major burger chain 'to shut half of its restaurants' as part of major restructure

Byron will close around half of its restaurants permanently as part of a huge overhaul of its business, according to a report.

The burger chain is said to be looking at shutting 10 of its remaining 21 restaurants.

The news website claims the owners of the Byron, investment firm Calveton, are set to strike a possible deal with the burger chain’s administrators, Interpath Advisory, this week.

Sky News cited "insiders" as saying a deal could be reached in the coming few days and the deal is reported to be a "pre-pack administration".

The report doesn't suggest how many jobs could be lost in the restructuring.

The news was first reported by Sky on Tuesday (Manchester Evening News)

The possible administration would come barely two years after the chain’s last failure after it last appointed administrators at the height of the pandemic.

This is when the London Mayfair-based investment firm took over.

In 2020, Byron closed 31 of its sites at a cost of around 650 jobs.

At the time the burger chain operated more than 50 restaurants and was majority-owned by Three Hills Capital Partners.

The company was then downsized as part of that administration and taken under the control of Calveton, although Three Hills still retains a minority stake.

Byron has had a tough few years as it first ran into real trouble in 2018 when it went through a restructuring exercise to erase its hefty debt burden and closed underperforming restaurants.

Byron opened its first site in the UK in 2007 and grew very quickly, at its height had more than 60 sites in the UK, employing around 1,800 people.

The burger chain was part of the "casual dining" phenomenon which took place in the late 2000's and early 2010's.

After first opening in 2007, the burger chain exploded in popularity over the next few years opening over 60 restaurant sites in the UK (Manchester Evening News)

A number of chains, such as Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) and Pizza Express have faced similar financial troubles as Byron.

These restaurants are all examples of successful, small restaurant brands that expanded far too quickly which created a fragile business model that was sustainable with the pandemic hitting these businesses hard.

With a recession looming, the current financial forecast looks bleak for businesses in the UK and this may not be the only case of administration or insolvency we see over the next year.

Both Byron and Celveton have been approached for comments on the story.