Franco Manca to close 16 restaurants, putting 225 UK jobs at risk

Franco Manca planned to shut around 16 restaurants, putting about 225 jobs at risk, as lease commitments struck years ago collided with a cost base the chain said no longer worked. The closures, which will be carried out through a Company Voluntary Arrangement, marked a direct hit to kitchen teams, floor staff and managers whose hours can disappear long before a site actually closes.

The Fulham Shore said the restaurants earmarked for closure were only a minority of the chain, but it has not yet named which locations are vulnerable. That leaves workers across the more than 70-restaurant estate waiting to see whether their own branch is next, even as the company moves ahead with support for affected staff.

Marcel Khan, chief executive of The Fulham Shore, said the business had been hit by higher national insurance, higher minimum wage costs, a lack of business rates relief for restaurants and “disproportionately high VAT” in the United Kingdom compared with Europe. For hospitality workers, that combination usually lands first in rota cuts, tighter labour scheduling and slower hiring, before it reaches the hard decision to close a site.

The move followed a February appointment of advisers, Alvarez & Marsal, to assess options including a sale or wider restructuring. The Fulham Shore, which also operates The Real Greek, was bought in 2023 by Japan’s Toridoll, backed by Capdesia, in a deal valued at £93.4 million. The group has been under pressure to steady a business that has not yet delivered the turnaround investors wanted.

Franco Manca opened in 2008 in Brixton Market in south London and grew into one of the best-known casual-dining pizza chains in the UK. Its most recent accounts showed sales of £37 million and a £3.2 million loss for the year ending March 2024, a reminder that even familiar brands can still be vulnerable when rent, wages and taxes rise faster than footfall.

For restaurant workers across the UK casual-dining sector, the warning is broader than one pizza chain. Leases signed in better trading years are now becoming a payroll problem, and the result is more uncertainty for staff who already work in a business defined by thin margins, high turnover and little room for error.