Italian restaurant in Chichester city centre closes

Prezzo, an Italian Restaurant in Chichester, closed its doors for the last time today (April 24) as branches of the Italian restaurant chain close-up shop all over the country.

A grand total of 46 loss-making restaurants are on the chopping block, with approximately 810 workers at risk of redundancy nationwide.

Bosses at Cain International say recovery post-Covid has proven harder than hoped, and branches have been hit hard by rising food and energy costs.

The cuts will leave the national chain, which dates back to 2000, with 97 restaurants and 2,000 staff members. The company has said it is working to redeploy as many staff internally as possible, and looks forward to supporting others in their pursuit of new opportunities.

"The last three years have been some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street and I’m extremely proud of the way our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s position as an appealing, trusted, great value food and drink experience.

“But the reality is that the cost-of-living crisis, the changing face of the high street and soaring inflation has made it impossible to keep all our restaurants operating profitably.

“We believe the tough decisions we are making today will ensure Prezzo can continue serving communities with high-quality, accessible Italian-inspired meals for many more years to come.”

The Chichester branch is closing alongside a range of other Sussex locations, including: Eastbourne and Hailsham.

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