Is Your Neighborhood Italian Restaurant Affected? Prezzo Plans Shutting Down of 46 Sites.

Prezzo, the Italian restaurant chain, has announced that it will be closing 46 of its loss-making restaurants due to soaring energy and food costs. The restructuring will put approximately 810 jobs at risk. Prezzo says that these closures are part of a broader strategic review, and will focus on sites that have struggled to recover following Covid-19, leaving the company with 97 restaurants and roughly 2,000 staff. The closures will impact some high street sites, but as the company shifts towards better locations, with the aim of catering to changing consumer habits, such as shopping centres, retail parks and tourist destinations, it will help to make the chain’s position more appealing. Staff were informed about the closures on Monday morning, and a consultation process was launched. The company expressed a commitment to redeploying as many staff as possible and to supporting others in finding new opportunities. Increases in utility bills and double-digit wage inflation have also taken a toll on Prezzo. The company’s food inflation has skyrocketed, with a 45-year-high in prices last month, and Prezzo has seen a 40% increase in the cost of spaghetti, a 28% increase for pizza sauce, and a 15% increase in the cost of its dough balls, causing the chain to struggle to remain competitively profitable. Cain International, Prezzo’s current private equity owners, rescued the chain from administration in late 2020, following the heavy impact of the pandemic. This will be Prezzo’s second major round of cuts, as it shut 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs two years ago.