Prezzo to shutter 46 loss-making sites

Restaurant operator Prezzo will shutter 46 loss-making locations as the group continues to battle rising energy and food costs.

Prezzo said on Monday that its decision to close the restaurants will put roughly 810 workers at risk of redundancy but vowed to try to internally redeploy "as many staff" as possible.

The company stated the cuts would affect sites where the post-Covid recovery had "proved harder" than it had hoped. Following the closures, Prezzo will have 97 restaurants and approximately 2,000 employees.

Chief executive Dean Challenger said: "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."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com