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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Steven Brown

Popular Prezzo Livingston restaurant to close down due to 'cost of living crisis'

A West Lothian branch of a popular chain restaurant is to close down due the cost of living crisis.

Prezzo located in Livingston at theThe Centre, the eatery is due to shut alongside 46 other sites with 810 jobs at risk of redundancy.

The Italian restaurant group has said that the closures are due to soaring costs and changes in customer habits.

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The chain has also been impacted by rising food costs which reached a 45 year high last month.

The Daily Mirror reported that, Prezzo says it has seen the cost of spaghetti rise 40%, pizza sunce go up 28% and the cost of its dough balls increase by 15%.

The closures, which are part of a business overhaul, will impact sites where footfall is still below pre-pandemic levels with the chain saying admitting that the "post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped”.

Sites that will remain open will be those in busier shopping destinations such as retail parks or tourist hot spots.

Prezzo staff were informed about the closures on Monday morning, with a consultation process launched.

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In a statement, Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, 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.

“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.”

The news comes two years after the group closed 22 of its restaurants and cut 2016 jobs.

Prezzo fell into administration late in 2020 before being bought by private equity owners Cain International.

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