Frankie and Benny's owner to close 35 more restaurants

The owner of chains such as Frankie and Benny's and Chiquito has announced it will close up to 35 more of its restaurants.

The Restaurant Group blamed the move on rising running costs and customers cutting back their spending.

The company, which has about 410 restaurants, said it would reduce its estate by 30% by next year by closing loss-making sites.

However, its successful Wagamama chain will not see any closures.

It comes after The Restaurant Group announced plans to close 250 sites in 2021, largely affecting staff at its Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Food & Fuel brands.

The firm's management has come under fire from investors pushing for change after the company's share value fell by two-thirds last year.

The group, which employs 18,000 people in the UK, said on Wednesday that its pre-tax loss for 2022 rose to £86.8m from £35.2m the year before.

That was despite sales increasing to £883m.

Ken Hanna, the group's chairman, said last year was "challenging" for the casual dining sector as businesses had to cope with rising costs after being shut down during the pandemic.

Worker shortages, calls for higher wages and rising ingredient costs had made trading "tough", the company added.

Chief executive Andy Hornby said the company had a "clear plan" to increase its margins over the next three years and "deliver significant value for all our stakeholders".

Russ Mould, investment director at financial firm AJ Bell, said The Restaurant Group was under pressure from larger investors to sell off some of its brands.

Spinning or selling off Frankie and Benny's and Chiquito could help the wider business, he added, allowing it to focus on Wagamama "which is clearly a restaurant brand with genuine appeal."

"Rename the business as Wagamama, clear out the rest, and you would have a streamlined and focused operation which might have more appeal to investors," he said.