Yet another high street restaurant chain has announced cuts, leading many to ask which Prezzo restaurants are closing down.
The cost of living crisis and lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic have hit businesses hard, and the last few months have seen a number of popular chains cut back on store numbers. In March, The Restaurant Group announced that some Frankie and Benny's will be closing - which sparked questions around whether Wagamama would close too, given that they have the same owners.
Not long beforehand, Wetherspoons announced pub closures too, and now Prezzo is the latest hospitality chain to confirm that is will be shutting some sites for good. Here, we reveal the full list of which Prezzo restaurants are closing down.
Which Prezzo restaurants are closing down?
Prezzo is closing 46 loss-making restaurants across the UK. The chain has said about 810 workers are at risk of redundancy as a result - though they have also said they will look to redeploy "as many staff internally as possible."
The closures mean the Italian restaurant chain will be left with 97 sites across the UK and around 2000 staff members. Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, said of the closures: "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."
Full list of Prezzo restaurants closing down
- Beccles, Suffolk
- Billericay, Essex
- Bolton, Greater Manchester
- Borehamwood, Hertfordshire
- Boston, Lincolnshire
- Bracknell, Berkshire
- Brentwood, Essex
- Buckhurst Hill, Essex
- Buckingham, Buckinghamshire
- Chichester, West Sussex
- Chingford, London
- Colchester, Essex
- Corby, Northamptonshire
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Eastbourne, East Sussex
- Egham, Surrey
- Eltham, London
- Ely, Cambridgeshire
- Epsom, Surrey
- Fleet, Hampshire
- Glasgow, St Vincent Place
- Hailsham, East Sussex
- Harpenden, Hertfordshire
- Livingston, West Lothian
- Lyndhurst, Hampshire
- Maidstone, Kent
- Mere Green, Birmingham
- Mill Hill, London
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Plymouth, Devon
- Redditch, Worcestershire
- Redhill, Surrey
- Rugby, Warwickshire
- Shepperton, Surrey
- Shirley, Warwickshire
- Sidcup, London
- St Neots, Cambridgeshire
- Stowmarket, Suffolk
- Tenterden, Kent
- Tunbridge Wells, Kent
- Weybridge, Surrey
- Whitstable, Kent
- Wickford, Essex
- Wimborne, Dorset
- Winchester, Hampshire
- Woodford Green, London
Why are Prezzo closing restaurants?
Prezzo has been forced to close some restaurants due to the impact of soaring energy and food costs during the cost of living crisis. The chain has said its utility costs have more than doubled, alongside a 40% increase in the cost of spaghetti, 28% rise for pizza sauce and 15% increase in the cost of its dough balls.
They also said that "the post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped," and the closures mean that Prezzo's portfolio of restaurants will shift towards those "in better locations to cater to changing consumer habits," such as shopping centres, retail parks and tourist destinations.
Chief executive Dean Challenger 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."
The latest restaurant closures come two years after the group shut 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs, and in 2020 the chain fell into administration after being hit by the impacts of the pandemic - though it was later saved by current private equity owners Cain International.
In related news, other high street chains that announce store closures include Argos, Iceland, and TK Maxx is closing some stores too.
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