Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Pizza Express, the UK-based restaurant chain has confirmed that it plans to permanently close 73 of its 454 pizzerias in the UK, with the loss of 1,100 jobs. The plans are part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), aimed to reduce the company’s restaurant and rental costs.
The managing director said the 'incredibly tough decisions' to restructure the business were prompted by the COVID-19 crisis and added that the restructure ensures the long-term sustainability of Pizza Express and protect the jobs of the remaining more than 9,000 employees.
Pizza Express was founded in London in 1965 and it is currently owned by Hony Capital, the Chinese private equity firm. The Pizza Express Group also owns restaurants in Ireland, continental Europe as well as in the Middle East and Asia.
Update 30/10/2020:
Pizza Express has announced that it will cut further 1,300 jobs across the UK, in response to a fall in trade, however, there will not be site closures in this round of the restructuring. The company has not revealed which locations will be affected and what roles are at risk of redundancy. The total number of job cuts since August is now at 2,400.
Eurofound (2020), Pizza Express, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101562, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/101562.