The Chiqito restaurant chain – which has four branches in the North East – is to be shut down, its owners have announced.
The Restaurant Group has said that around 1,500 jobs will be lost after it moved to put Chiquitos into administration, along with its Food and Fuel chain of pubs in London.
Chiquitos has sites in Eldon Square, Newcastle; the Gateshead Metrocentre; Durham; and Stockton.
A spokesman said: “Covid-19 has had an immediate and significant impact on trading across the Group.
“We have conducted a review of the performance of our business divisions, with a particular focus on the expected future cash generation profile of each of our business units.”
He added that both groups are expected to hit losses this year, “as a result, the group has taken the very difficult decision to appoint administrators for Food & Fuel Limited and filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator for Chiquito Limited.
“The decisions have been incredibly difficult and we recognise the significant impact on all of our colleagues that are affected. We thank them for their hard work and commitment during these very testing times.”
Pubs and restaurants have faced a tough week, with the Government announcing their closure, although takeaway services are allowed to continue.
Marston’s, which runs 1,400 pubs across the country, and Mitchells & Butlers, the owner of Toby Carvery and All Bar One also both warned they were struggling.
