Owner of Frankie & Benny’s and Wagamama pushes back some openings

The company behind restaurants such as Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s has said that one in ten of its sites will not reopen before the end of the year.

The restaurant owner is already having to restructure its portfolio as a result of coronavirus. Picture: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

The Restaurant Group said that the sites, largely in airports, will open next year at the earliest, as they are unlikely to attract enough customers to make reopening worthwhile.

The affected sites are in areas “where footfall is anticipated to remain considerably week (primarily in some airport locations)”, the company said in an update for shareholders.

All the sites that will reopen this year will have started serving customers by the end of September, the firm added.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent of its sites that open sometime before the end of August will be given a chance to take advantage of the UK government’s new Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Last month, the firm announced that 125 Frankie & Benny’s sites will close permanently, with 3,000 jobs on the line.

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