Italian chain Prezzo plans to shut 46 restaurants involving 810 jobs
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Prezzo has announced it will shut 46 of its UK restaurants as part of a corporate restructuring - with the loss of 810 jobs
Today's announcement comes just two years after the restaurateur closed 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs.
The heads of the private equity firms said the cuts, part of a wider strategic review, will target locations where "the post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped"
It said the closures could have some repercussions for some high street locations, as its portfolio shifts 'in better locations to cater to changing consumer habits', such as shopping centres, shopping parks and tourist destinations.
A consultation process was launched on the website after the announcement.
"some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street" - Dean Challenger
Dean Challenger, CEO of Prezzo, says: 'The last three years have been some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street.
The restaurant group said costs soared last year, utilities bills more than doubled and wage inflation reached double figures.
As well, food inflation, which last month reached a 45-year high, has hit this country: Prezzo recorded a 40% rise in the cost of spaghetti, 28% for pizza sauce, and 15% for dough balls.