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Gusto Italian has confirmed the closure of sites across the North of England and Scotland today including restaurants in Cheshire
Gusto Italian, the Northern-based restaurant group with multiple venues in Greater Manchester and Cheshire has confirmed which of its 13 sites are set to close.
Earlier today, the hospitality brand confirmed it would be closing six sites as part of an acquisition deal. It followed reports that Gusto was on the verge of collapse and was likely to be sold through a pre-package insolvency agreement.
Sky News reported that Interpath Advisory was preparing for an insolvency agreement before a spokesperson for Gusto Italian confirmed the news in a statement.
Cherry Equity Partners, the owner of Latin American restaurant concept Cabana, will acquire the majority of Gusto.
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The transaction, which will be undertaken via a pre-pack administration process, will ensure seven flagship Gusto restaurants will continue to trade, saving over 300 jobs.
However, this means that six restaurants in the group will close, resulting in around 190 redundancies. It has now been confirmed which six sites are to close.
In an update shared this afternoon, it has been confirmed that sites in Alderley Edge, Cookridge, Edinburgh, Heswall, Leeds, and Newcastle will close.
The majority of these are smaller sites in suburban locations which the brand have said became economically unviable due to continuing cost headwinds affecting the sector.
The seven remaining open will be Liverpool (Albert Dock), Birmingham, Cheadle, Knutsford, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford.
Paul Moran, CEO of Gusto Restaurants, said earlier: “This investment marks an important step forward for Gusto, ensuring the future of the business and putting in place a strong and stable platform upon which we can start to grow the business again.”
“We are profoundly sorry to see six of our restaurants close and are tremendously grateful for the support of our staff and our loyal customers at these locations over the years.”
Ed Standring, CEO and operating partner of Cherry Equity Partners, said: “This investment marks our third acquisition in six months, and underscores our deep commitment to the UK hospitality sector.
The transaction is being led by Will Wright and Rick Harrison from Interpath who are expected to be appointed joint administrators to Gusto Restaurants Limited.
Will Wright, UK CEO of Interpath, said: “Although these continue to be challenging times for hospitality operators, we are pleased to advise on this transaction which will safeguard the future of a fantastic brand which has been serving customers across cities and suburbs for over twenty years.”
Gusto Italian was founded in 2005 by Jeremy Roberts and the late Tim Bacon, from Living Ventures Group. In 2014, it gained private equity backing from Palatine.
Gusto was previously been named Italian Restaurant of the Year at the Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association’s PAPA Industry Awards.
Last November saw the closure of Gusto restaurant in Didsbury, which shut down with immediate effect after bosses said they had reviewed the performance of the site and had also been approached by a ‘well-known’ retailer.
Gusto Italian full list of closures:
- Alderley Edge
- Cookridge
- Edinburgh
- Heswall
- Leeds
- Newcastle
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