Carluccio's restaurant reopens in Leeds after rescue deal

Carluccio's restaurants plunged into administration in March after the impact of coronavirus exacerbated the firm’s long-standing financial difficulties.

In May, administrators confirmed that the company was sold to Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) in a move which saved over 800 jobs.

The Leeds restaurant, inside the Trinity Leeds shopping centre, reopened on Thursday, August 27.

Leeds is one of just three Carluccio restaurants in Yorkshire which has been saved in the deal.

The Beverley restaurant and Sheffield restaurant will also remain open.

Both York sites, in St. Helen’s Square and in the Coppergate Shopping Centre, have closed.

Carluccio's is one of many restaurants hit by the coronavirus crisis.

In August, Pizza Express announced it would be closing two Leeds restaurants as part of a nationwide strategy that could cost up to 1,100 jobs.

The company announced that it would shut 73 sites across the UK, in a bid to stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.

The proposed closures, which aim to reduce the chain's costs via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), could result in 1,100 job losses.

In Leeds, the Leeds Corn Exchange branch on Crown Street will permanently close.

The Horsforth branch on Town Street will also close.

The eight other Leeds restaurants will remain open at; Leeds Arena, Albion Place, Park Square, Leeds Dock, Headingley, Street Lane, Junction 27 Retail Park and White Rose Shopping Centre.

Elsewhere in West Yorkshire, the Halifax and Wakefield branches will close.

The Pontefract and Bradford sites will remain open.

In North Yorkshire, the Scaborough and Northallerton sites will close but Beverely, Hull and Harrogate sites will remain open.

All York branches are unaffected by the changes.

In South Yorkshire, two Sheffield branches will close on Devonshire Street and The Moor.

The company, which currently has around 454 restaurants in the UK, said it has finalised a proposal to reduce its restaurant and rental costs via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

It said that although the majority of its restaurants were profitable before lockdown was imposed, earnings had been declining across the Pizza Express estate for the last three years.

It added that the reduction in revenue caused by the enforced closure of all restaurants, the cost of reopening and the UK's uncertain economic future meant its rental costs were no longer sustainable.

Pizza Express, which is majority owned by Chinese firm Hony Capital, also confirmed it had hired advisers from Lazard to lead a sale process for the business.

It said it would hold a virtual meeting for its creditors on September 4 to seek approval for the measures set out in the CVA.

Zoe Bowley, Pizza Express's managing director for the UK and Ireland, said: "Unfortunately, the impact of the global pandemic has meant that we have had to make some incredibly tough decisions to safeguard Pizza Express for the long term.

"Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently."

Ms Bowley said that in most cases, the stores selected for closure are near to another Pizza Express that has already reopened or will be reopening soon.

She added: "Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.

"Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities."

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: "These situations are never easy, particularly now for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on our high streets at the sharp end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Property owners, however, need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including the millions of people whose savings and pensions are invested in commercial property, as they vote on any CVA proposal."

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Laura Collins