The Restaurant Group looks to close more than 100 sites

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Frankie & Benny owner The Restaurant Group in talks with landlords as it looks to close more than 100 sites

By Hugo Duncan for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) is in talks with its landlords as it looks to close more than 100 sites. 

The company, whose 650 restaurants and pubs include the Wagamama and Garfunkel’s brands, is planning not to reopen as many as 120 outlets after the lockdown ends, putting up to 3,000 jobs at risk. 

‘We are in discussions with our landlords regarding potential restructuring options for our leisure estate,’ a TRG spokesman said, referring to the arm of its business that includes Frankie & Benny’s, Coast to Coast and Garfunkel’s. 

Struggling: TRG stressed that the restaurant sector is ‘facing exceptional challenges’ due to the lockdown

The warning came as the boss of Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca said starting up again after the lockdown is ‘going to be hell’ for the restaurant industry. 

‘A lot of people are going to be nervous about coming out,’ said Mark Selby, chief executive and co-founder of Wahaca. ‘We’ve all got to do our jobs in making people feel confident, making them feel safe, but also giving them that experience that hospitality is.’ 

TRG stressed that the restaurant sector is ‘facing exceptional challenges’ due to the lockdown, and was ‘already facing significant challenges prior to the onset of Covid-19’. 

In March, it shut 60 of its Chiquito Mexican-style outlets, as well as its Food & Fuel chain of pubs, after placing them into administration. 

The company, which has about 22,000 staff on furlough, is one of Britain’s largest restaurant operators. 

But analysts at Citi said it would benefit from selling its whole leisure business, saying that it comprises nearly half of the group’s sites but is likely to account for only 20 per cent of profits in the 2021 financial year. 

The brokerage said: ‘A clean exit would leave the group focused on its growth businesses, which we think have stronger prospects and would command a higher multiple.’ 

Most of Wahaca’s 1,000 employees have also been furloughed, but Selby called on the Government to go further to protect jobs and firms that will continue to struggle even after the lockdown ends. 

‘I can guarantee for the next six to eight months, with sales where we expect them to be, we are going to need serious rent concessions.’ 

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