Prezzo announces closure of nearly a third of its restaurants, putting over 800 jobs at risk

Highstreet restaurant chain Prezzo has announced it is closing nearly a third of its restaurants, putting over 800 of its staff at risk of losing their jobs.

The chain admitted, the ‘post-Covid recovery has proved harder than we had hoped’.

Citing raising costs across the board in areas such as utility bills and food prices, the Italian restaurant revealed it would be closing 46 of is loss-making sites across the UK. The group reported that its energy bills had more than doubled recently, while the cost of spaghetti has risen 40%, pizza sauce has gone up by 38% and even dough balls have risen in cost by 15%. It’s a model that the brand has noted isn’t sustainable.

The closure of the 46 locations will leave 97 restaurants still open, a number which currently employees around 2000 people. This latest announcement follows a similar move two year ago when 22 restaurants were shut, impacting over 200 jobs. Remaining sites will be found in busy shopping areas as well as key tourist sites to maximise their chance of success.

Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, commented: ‘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.’

Prezzo is well-known for its affordable, family-friendly fare with a menu of please-all pizzas and pastas as well a handful of Italian mains – like Marsala chicken with mushrooms – and sides.

Prezzo staff were informed on Monday 24 April with the chain telling them that they’d try to protect as many jobs as possible within the group.

Like keeping up with restaurant news? Did you hear Wagamama is closing lots of its sites too?