- Written by Karen Hoggan
- business reporter
image source, Getty Images
Pizza chain Papa John's has announced it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants, all of which it says are “underperforming”.
The closure follows a review of the business which identified sites that were “no longer economically viable”.
The chain, which operates 450 restaurants as well as gas stations and holiday parks, will close 43 stores, but has not said how many jobs will be affected.
Separately, Revolution Birds said it may sell “all or part of the group”.
The announcement followed reports that Revolution may close about 20 bars, or about a quarter of its stores.
Announcing the closure of the Papa John's site, UK managing director Chris Filcht said: “Our top priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.
“Our goal is to work with affected team members and find relocation opportunities wherever possible.”
The closures are all in England, stretching from Harrogate in North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay in Essex and Eastbourne in East Sussex.
According to the company, these are all “underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable.”
The group previously said it was planning a “strategic closure” to free up investment capital and improve profitability at its remaining UK sites.
The company will use the funds to invest in its remaining UK sites. The company plans to further expand into non-traditional locations such as holiday parks, and the chain said it would “announce other major retail partners in the coming months”.
Revolution Birds, which also owns Revolution de Cuba, said it was “actively exploring all available strategic options to improve the group's future prospects” following the “external challenges” that affected the deal. We are considering the matter,” he said.
It said this could include restructuring parts of the group or selling “all or part” of the group.
Revolution also said it was in discussions with “major shareholders” and other investors about raising additional capital.
In its trading report in January, the company said its Revolution brand was underperforming as the cost of living crisis hit young people even harder.
Statistics from earlier this month showed an increase in the number of new retail stores opening last year, with coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants accounting for the majority, most of them in city centres. Located outside.
However, the number of store openings was not large enough to outweigh the closures of chains such as Wilco, resulting in a net loss of 5,000 stores across the UK, according to accountants PwC, which analyzed data compiled by Local Data Company.
So far this year, Body Shop and nightclub chain Prism has already faced difficulties and announced site closures.
