Prezzo plans to shut down 46 restaurants but Broughton appears to be safe

Italian restaurant chain Prezzo has announced plans to shut down 46 of its sites, which will put around 810 jobs at risk.

The restaurant group currently operates 143 venues and employs approximately 2,800 members of staff.

The latest round of closures is a result of increasing food costs and soaring energy prices that have slowed down the chain’s post-Covid recovery.

Locally, the Prezzo restaurant next to Cineworld on Broughton Retail Park does not appear on the latest list of sites to be closed.

Prezzo fell into administration in 2020 and was purchased by private equity firm Cain International, which resulted in the closure of 22 restaurants and 216 job losses.

CEO Dean Challenger stated that it has been difficult to keep all sites profitable in the face of “soaring inflation”, with energy bills doubling and the price of spaghetti increasing by 40%.

The move has prompted calls for government support for the hospitality sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.

UKHospitality has called for help for the sector to cope with the 20% inflation in food service and the £7.3 billion per annum in rising energy costs due to a reduction in government support.

Commenting, Kate Nicholls, chief executive officer at UKHospitality, said, “Something has to be done or hospitality will look like a shell of itself in a year’s time.”

Despite the challenges facing the hospitality industry, Prezzo remains optimistic about the future. Challenger stated, “I’m extremely proud of the way our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s position as an appealing, trusted, great value food and drink experience.”

Here is a full list of all the Prezzo restaurants due to close:

– Beccles, Suffolk
– Billericay, Essex
– Bolton, Greater Manchester
– Borehamwood, Hertfordshire
– Boston, Lincolnshire
– Bracknell, Berkshire
– Brentwood, Essex
– Buckhurst Hill, Essex
– Buckingham, Buckinghamshire
– Chichester, West Sussex
– Chingford, London
– Colchester, Essex
– Corby, Northamptonshire
– Didcot, Oxfordshire
– Eastbourne, East Sussex
– Egham, Surrey
– Eltham, London
– Ely, Cambridgeshire
– Epsom, Surrey
– Fleet, Hampshire
– Glasgow, St Vincent Place
– Hailsham, East Sussex
– Harpenden, Hertfordshire
– Livingston, West Lothian
– Lyndhurst, Hampshire
– Maidstone, Kent
– Mere Green, Birmingham
– Mill Hill, London
– Oxford, Oxfordshire
– Plymouth, Devon
– Redditch, Worcestershire
– Redhill, Surrey
– Rugby, Warwickshire
– Shepperton, Surrey
– Shirley, Warwickshire
– Sidcup, London
– St Neots, Cambridgeshire
– Stowmarket, Suffolk
– Tenterden, Kent
– Tunbridge Wells, Kent
– Weybridge, Surrey
– Whitstable, Kent
– Wickford, Essex
– Wimborne, Dorset
– Winchester, Hampshire
– Woodford Green, London