The sites earmarked for closure have been trading unprofitably for a number of years due to a variety of economic and locational factors.
Little Chef’s remaining sites are all trading profitably, the company said. The closures are expected to result in the loss of between 500 and 600 jobs at sites across the country, subject to local consultations.
These jobs are a mixture of full and part-time roles. After this action, it is anticipated that the remaining workforce will number approximately 1,500 people.
Little Chef’s strategic plan is to expand its business by opening and introducing new sites over the coming years.Overall, Little Chef continues to trade strongly.
Graham Sims, chairman of Little Chef, said: “When we acquired Little Chef four years ago we inherited a number of sites with leases that were uncompetitive. Despite very hard work from some very committed colleagues we have been unable to lift the performances of these sites to a level where they are viable.
“Consequently, following a thorough review in which we considered all the options it is with regret that we have had to close a number of sites. This means some people’s jobs are at risk throughout the organisation. We will do everything in our power to help every individual find alternative employment within the Little Chef organisation. I know this will be tough and an uncertain time for many people in our team.
“By closing these sites we will be able to focus our attention on protecting over 1500 of our colleagues’ jobs and enabling our investments to be targeted on our remaining strong sites and to develop our brand and our new concept, towards which the customer response has been very positive.”
Source: Little Chef
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