Italian casual dining chain, Prezzo is to permanently close 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs after it was rescued out of administration.
Cain International, which only bought the chain in December, has bought it back from administrators in a pre-pack deal to secure its future. It said the action protects the vast majority of Prezzo’s 2,900 jobs.
The company filed for insolvency after failing to reach an agreement with landlords over rent payments. All 178 restaurants, which are currently closed to due to lockdown 3.0, have only been operated for 25 weeks out of the past 52 weeks but fixed costs and rent have accumulated.
Jonathan Goldstein, chief executive of Cain, said, “We firmly believe that strong hospitality businesses, such as Prezzo, have a bright future and will play an essential role in reviving the UK economy. However, to do so, we must get through this current crisis of mounting liabilities and no revenues.
“The lack of visibility on when and how the sector will reopen has heightened economic uncertainty to the point where decisive action had to be taken to secure the future of the business and the majority of jobs for Prezzo’s people.
“We are deeply sorry for all those affected by the permanent closure of the 22 non-viable restaurants. It was a difficult, but essential, decision to take but doing so will allow us to save thousands of jobs and create more in the future.”