Popular chain Pizza Express said on Monday that creditors had approved restructuring plans that will close 73 of its restaurants and put as many as 1,100 jobs at risk in the UK.
In a statement, the company said that 89% of its creditors voted in favour of its proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring deal, securing more than 9,000 jobs.
“The successful vote unlocks the company’s ability to actively address the challenges brought by COVID-19,” Pizza Express said.
“Regrettably, the CVA proposes the closure of 73 restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk,” it said.
Pizza Express announced the sweeping restructuring process, which will see widespread rent reductions, late last month.
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Noting that most of its 454 restaurants have been profitable over the past three years, the company said that declining earnings had been exacerbated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In early August, Pizza Express said it had hired advisers from Lazard to lead a sale process for the business.
The company is now owned by Chinese private investment firm Hony, which acquired it in 2014 from UK private equity firm Cinven.
That sale is being run separately from the company’s restructuring process. Pizza Express also said that it was hoping to sell its business in mainland China.
Pizza Express had already been struggling under the weight of a huge debt pile, with interest payments on its hundreds of millions in loans more than offsetting its operating profits in recent years.
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Hospitality has been one of the hardest hit sectors by the pandemic and its related public health restrictions.
Around 80% of hospitality firms stopped trading in April, with 1.4 million people in accommodation and food services furloughed, according to the Treasury, the highest of any sector.
The UK government launched the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to assist the recovery of the hospitality industry, but it was wound down at the end of August.
“The directors of Pizza Express thank its creditors for their support during this period and look forward to ongoing partnership as the hospitality industry recovers to growth,” the company said on Friday.
Here is the full list of restaurants that are set to close:
Aberdeen – Belmont St
Aylesbury
Barnstaple – Three Tuns
Biggleswade
Billericay
Birmingham – Corporation St
Birmingham – Mailbox
Bournemouth – Post Office Rd
Bramhall
Bristol – Berkeley Sq
Bristol – Regent St
Bromsgrove
Bruton Place
Charlotte St
Chippenham
Dalton Park
Darlington
Dudley – Merry Hill
Earls Court – Earls Ct Rd
Edinburgh – Holyrood
Formby
Fulham Palace Road
Glasgow – Princes Square
Glossop
Gosforth
Grantham
Halifax
Hampstead
Hatch End
Hereford
Heswall
Ipswich – Lloyds Ave
Leeds – Crown St
Leeds – Horsforth
Ludlow
Lymington
Melton Mowbray
Midhurst
Milton Keynes – Hub
Moseley
New Brighton
Newcastle
Newport – Isle of Wight
Newport – South Wales
Northallerton
Nottingham – Goosegate
O2 Finchley
Orpington
Oxford – Oxford Castle
Poole
Port Solent
Ramsgate
Reading – St Mary’s Butts
Scarborough
Sheffield – Devonshire St
Sheffield The Moor
Shirley
Southport – Old Bank
Stafford
Staines
Stoke
Stourbridge
Sudbury
Torquay
Uxbridge
Wakefield
Walsall
Wapping
Wardour St
Weston-super-Mare
Whiteley Village
Whitstable
Wrexham
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