Chester ’s Chimichanga restaurant is to close but Prezzo outlets in Cheshire Oaks and Broughton Shopping Park are staying open.
Hundreds of jobs will go at Prezzo and Chimichanga in a radical restructure as part an agreement aimed at repaying debts to creditors.
Staff at the Tex-Mex Chimichanga in Pepper Street have confirmed their last day of trading will be on Friday, March 31 – the restaurant only opened two-and-a-half years ago.
But Prezzo restaurants at Cheshire Oaks and Broughton Shopping Park, which specialise in Italian cuisine, will remain open.
The company, owned by private equity firm TPG Capital, secured the backing of creditors for Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) on Friday, which will allow the Italian-themed chain to exit unprofitable branches and secure rent reductions.
A total of 94 of Prezzo's 300 outlets will close, with around 500 jobs understood to be in the firing line, although many staff will be redeployed at other restaurants.
Restaurants identified for closure are likely to shut in April and May, Prezzo has said, and staff will be made aware of the exact dates as soon as they have been confirmed.
Casual dining chains and retailers have been hit by rising costs such as the National Living Wage and Apprenticeship Levy, online shopping and meal delivery services.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is closing 12 of his restaurants, also through a CVA, in a move that will involve the loss of at least 200 jobs.
His upmarket Barbecoa steakhouse business in London has gone into administration.
Meanwhile, Toys R Us and electronics chain Maplin, both of which have outlets at Chester Retail Park, are struggling. Maplin is in administration and Toys R Us will close when the stock has sold.
The full list of Prezzo restaurants marked for closure are as follows: Abergavenny Alton Amersham Arundel Barnet (High Street) Barnstaple Bedford, (MEXIco) Belfast (Victoria Square) Belfast (Boucher Square) Beverley Blackpool Blandford Bournemouth Chimichanga Braintree (Freeport Village) Brentwood Bromley (Chimichanga, East Street) Canterbury Cardiff (Chimichanga) Carlisle Carmarthen Catterick Chatham (Chimichanga) Chelmsford (Baddow Road) Chester (Chimichanga) Cobham (Cleaver) Cramlington Crawley (Chimichanga) Dalton Darlington Deansgate - Manchester Derby (MEXIco) Ealing (Chimichanga) Eastleigh (Chimichanga) Edinburgh (Pier Place) Falmouth Fareham (Chimichanga) Glasgow Fort Gloucester Guildford Halstead Haywards Heath Hereford Hereford (Chimichanga) Hornchurch (Chimichanga) Ipswich (Chimichanga) Kettering Kingston Leicester (Silver Street) Lewes Lincoln Maidstone (MEXIco) Midhurst Milton Keynes (Chimichanga) New Brighton Newbury Newcastle Newquay Northwood Norwich (Thorpe Road) Nottingham (Low Pavement) Penarth Peterborough (Chimichanga) Port Solent (Chimichanga) Trustees Ltd Poulton Ripon Sheffield (Valley Centertainment) Sheffield (Ecclesall Road) Silverburn, Glasgow Solihull (Chimichanga) South Woodford, London (Chimichanga) Southampton Southampton (Chimichanga) St Annes on Sea St Austell Stamford Stevenage (High Street) Stratford Upon Avon Sudbury Taunton Telford (Chimichanga) Tewkesbury Wandsworth, London Wandsworth, London (Chimichanga) Warrington Watford, London (Chimichanga) West Bromwich Wokingham Woodley Yate Yeovil |