Fears over 4,500 jobs as top firms collapse
UP to 4,500 jobs may be lost after two well-known businesses collapsed yesterday amid the coronavirus fallout.
The Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s went into administration, while BrightHouse which offers rent-to-own household appliances and furniture also went bust.
Carluccio’s blamed “challenging trading conditions” exacerbated by the bug pandemic.
Administrator FRP said it was urgently looking at options for the future of the firm.
These included mothballing the business using government support, as well as trying to sell all or parts of it.
Most of the company’s 2,000 employees will be paid through the government’s job retention scheme while these options are explored. This allows for staff to be paid up to 80 per cent of their salary. The restaurant chain’s collapse came just minutes after BrightHouse – the biggest rentto-own operator in the UK – also went under. Collectively, the two firms employ 4,500 people.
Carluccio’s had already warned it was facing permanent branch closures due to the virus.
Before the outbreak it was hit by the crunch in casual dining and had urged the state to step in.
Geoff Rowley, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: “We are urgently focused on options to preserve the future of the business and protect its employees.”
Administrators were last night attempting to salvage parts of the BrightHouse business.
The company had been struggling after an influx of compensation claims for selling to people who could not repay.