RESTAURANT CLOSURES PUT 340 JOBS AT RISK
AROUND 340 jobs are at risk at Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner as parent firm Boparan Restaurant Group prepares to axe almost a third of the sites.
Boparan plans to shut 27 of the two restaurant chains’ 70 outlets while pleading with landlords for rent reductions on a further 13 locations.
Of the 70 sites, 35 are Giraffe restaurants and 25 are Ed’s Diner eateries. The remaining 10 are other outlets owned by Boparan.
The company bought Giraffe from Tesco in 2016 before buying Ed’s Easy Diner out of administration months later for a reported £8.8m. It said that although sales have improved since the two chains were acquired, some sites remain unprofitable. It also owns fish-and-chip chain Harry Ramsden and holds the franchise licence for US fast food chain Slim Chickens.
The group is headed up by Ranjit Singh Boparan, who earned the nickname ‘chicken king’ after starting up a string of food manufacturing firms.
Boparan is looking to carry out the overhaul through a so-called company voluntary arrangement, a controversial restructuring procedure.