Manchester pizza institution Croma has been forced to shut its city centre flagship restaurant in the wake of the pandemic.
The closure will make 28 staff-members redundant.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, co-founder Andrew Bullock said: “We had hoped to see our way through. It’s devastating.
“But as an independent, we simply don’t have the clout with landlords, or the balance sheet that large companies have.”
The chain only celebrated its 21st anniversary last November with a party at the venue that has now sadly been shuttered.
It was the first of the chain’s four restaurants to open, back in 2000, on Clarence Street tucked behind Albert Square.
Bullock said that the low footfall in the city centre over Christmas, including the Christmas Markets being absent from the square this year plus increasing numbers of office staff now working from home due to the pandemic all contributed to the site becoming financially inviable.
“We looked ahead of us, and we just couldn’t do it,” he went on.
“We just couldn’t cover the costs, and we couldn’t see a financial future. You don’t need to be an accountant to see that there weren’t the number of people coming in on a Friday evening or a Tuesday lunchtime.”
The chain was set up by co-founders Bullock and Bob Dunn, after they left the Pizza Express franchise they were running on South King Street to set up on their own, bringing with them many staff who still work for the company today.
The remaining three restaurants, in Chorlton, Didsbury and Prestwich, will remain open, with the Prestwich branch actually doing better business than before the pandemic.
The chain also ran the Croma Pizzapoint franchises at Odeon cinemas including one at the Trafford Centre, and other sites in Edinburgh, Tunbridge Wells and Loughborough.
However, those closed too at the beginning of 2021, as the cinema group was shuttered due to the second nationwide lockdown.
“This is time for all independents to see how the land lies,” Bullock added. “We’re very pleased that our customers have supported us so well, particularly recently. We’d like to come back to the city centre [one day], but we’ll leave it a while. There are still tricky times ahead.
“But while there is a loss of the history here, it’s certainly not the end of Croma.”
