Job losses and site closures on high street

A NUMBER of big names on the high street announced jobs losses, site closures, and losses yesterday.

The owner of Frankie & Benny’s, The Restaurant Group, said up to 3,000 jobs are on the line after it announced it was going to close 125 of its sites across the country.

The fashion chain Quiz said it is placing the division that runs its 82 standalone stores into administration as part of a restructure to offload lossmaking outlets and slash its rent bill.

Early yesterday Monsoon Accessorize bosses confirmed 32 of its UK stores were to close after the company fell into administration. However, during the day there were rumours owner Peter Simon was to buy the business in a pre-pack deal, in a move that aims to save both brands and up to 2,300 jobs.

The Restaurant Group said it was seeking approval from its landlords for a deal that would let it reduce the number of restaurants it runs, and negotiate lower rents for many of those left over.

Bosses said the hospitality industry was facing “welldocumented” problems, after the coronavirus pandemic forced many in the sector to close their doors.

If landlords approve the deal, known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), it will leave the firm’s leisure arm with about 160 sites.

It will also allow it to exit about 25 restaurants which have already been closed.

The Restaurant Group also owns pan-Asian chain Wagamama, and runs several pubs and concessions in airports. These will not be affected by the news, it said.

The stores that will close are “principally” Frankie and Benny’s restaurants, it added.

The move by Quiz will see 93 job losses, but the group said 822 of the 915 staff affected by the decision will remain with the group.

Quiz will look to buy back the stock and some of the assets from the Kast division placed in administration for £1.3m so it can try to renegotiate better rents with landlords on some of the stores with a view to keeping them open.

It did not disclose how many stores it would be looking to retain as part of the deal.

Quiz said its concessions and international operations are unaffected by the move.

Tarak Ramzan, chief executive of Quiz, said: “It is with deep sadness and regret for some of our colleagues and partners that we had to take this decision.”