CITYDESK
BATTERED Heston’s empire THE owners of restaurant chains Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia saw losses widen last year amid tough trading in the eating-out market. The Casual Dining Group, who also run La Tasca and Belgo, posted a £60million loss for the year to May 2017, 18 per cent worse than 2016. They blamed a “difficult trading environment” and “challenging conditions”. Rivals Byron, Prezzo and Jamie’s Italian are preparing for a wave of branch closures.