Carluccio’s to close a third of its restaurants

One in three Carluccio’s restaurants could be closed as it becomes the latest food chain to face financial strains.

Some 34 of its 103 sites could be forced to shut – risking around 500 jobs – unless the restaurants can secure deals with landlords to get rent reductions.

The chain started out as an Italian food shop which TV chef Antonio Carluccio, who died last year, opened with his wife.

The first Carluccio’s cafe was opened in London in 1999, before expanding across the UK. But fierce competition and a ‘perfect storm’ of rising staffing costs, business rates and rents have seen Carluccio’s fall into trouble.

Discussing the potential closures, chief executive Mark Jones said: ‘Regrettably, this is the only course of action available and if approved, will safeguard the future of the group, protecting this strong core business.’

It is not known which restaurants face closure but sites in newcastle, Gloucester, norwich and London are thought to be at risk. Carluccio’s has two restaurants in Scotland – Glasgow and Aberdeen. The firm said it will do everything possible to avoid job losses and redeploy staff.

It follows a raft of closures among other restaurant chains. Prezzo is in the process of closing a third of its 300 restaurants, and 12 of 37 Jamie’s Italian restaurants have shut. Byron is expected to axe 20 of its stores and pasta restaurant Strada has already called time on 11 of its outlets.