PizzaExpress is in talks about its debts of more than a billion pounds.
A big chunk of the money it owes needs to be paid back in less than two years time and financial advisers have been called in ahead of negotiations with the company’s creditors.
The total debt of £1.12 billion at the end of last years is equivalent to each restaurant owing £1.79 million, MirrorOnline reports.
Of that total, £655.6million is due to be repaid by August 2022 but a large chunk of it needs to be repaid in August 2021.
The news service Bloomberg, which broke the news that the company had hired financial service firm Houlihan Lokey Inc, said representatives for both the restaurant chain and the financial service firm declined to comment.
In recent years PizzaExpress, which has branches in King Street, Goose Gate and West Bridgford, has looked to expand beyond its core UK restaurant business by partnerships with supermarkets and Deliveroo in the UK and by looking at growth overseas.
It's also trying hard to beat the high street slowdown with new menu ranges, new restaurant designs and even opening new sites.
According to its most recent results, profits fell 7.7 per cent in the first half of the year, but still came in at £32.4 million as sales rose slightly.
PizzaExpress chief executive Jinlong Wang said: “Intense competition in the casual dining sector encourages innovation and we are constantly seeking ways to increase appeal to new and existing customers.
“Looking ahead, whilst we expect both the UK and Ireland and International markets to remain challenging, we are confident in our ability to successfully appeal to customers and believe that we will continue to deliver a resilient performance across the remainder of 2019.”
Many high street restaurant chains have been closing premises in the last few years, including Jamie’s Italian, Prezzo, Carluccio’s, Eat, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Byron.
The first PizzaExpress opened in 1965 in Soho, London, with its founder, Peterborough businessman Peter Boizot, going on to expand the chain across the country and internationally. There are more than 500 restaurants worldwide.
Mr Boizot died in December last year, aged 89.
