Carluccio’s restaurant chain has been bought out in a rescue deal which will save 30 of its branches but costs more than 1,000 jobs, administrators have announced.
The Italian-style brand was sold to Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner owner Boparan Restaurant Group, in a deal which rescued 30 restaurants and around 800 jobs.
However, administrators FRP Advisory said the move has also resulted in the redundancy of 1,019 Carluccio’s employees after it was unable to secure the future of the chain’s other 40 restaurants.
Phil Reynolds, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: ‘The Covid-19 lockdown has put incredible pressure on businesses across the leisure sector, so it has been important to work as quickly and as decisively as possible in an extremely challenging business environment to secure a sale which ensures the future of the Carluccio’s brand in the UK casual dining scene retains a significant network of sites across the country and, critically, transfers a considerable number of jobs.
The Italian-style brand Carluccio’s was sold to Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner owner Boparan Restaurant Group, in a deal which has saved 30 restaurants and around 800 jobs.
Administrators FRP Advisory said the move has also resulted in the redundancy of 1,019 Carluccio’s employees after it was unable to secure the future of the chain’s other 40 restaurants
‘We wish the team all the best as part of the Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG).’
Satnam Leihal, managing director of BRG, said: ‘We welcome Carluccio’s colleagues to BRG. This acquisition is in line with our strategy to grow our restaurant group with quality brands.
‘Whilst it is an extremely challenging time for the sector, we believe quality hospitality businesses will recover in the long term as people return to eating out.’
The deal has ensured, at least over the short term, the survival of the 21-year-old Carluccio’s brand, which was founded by late chef Antonio Carluccio in 1999.
The deal has ensured, at least over the short term, the survival of the 21-year-old Carluccio’s brand, which was founded by late chef Antonio Carluccio
Before it slipped into administration at the end of March, Carluccio’s had been owned by Dubai-based retail firm Landmark Group.
Boparan is owned by tycoon Ranjit Boparan, who earned the nickname ‘chicken king’ after founding poultry supplier 2 Sisters Food Group in 1993.
He bought Giraffe from Tesco in 2016, and months later grabbed Ed’s Diner out of administration. But he was forced to close a third of the locations last year amid a crisis in the casual dining sector.
The Italian chain was co-founded by chef Antonio Carluccio (pictured) who died in November last year aged 80
Coronavirus is wreaking carnage on the high street, with shoppers forced to stay away and use the Internet for goods they would have previously bought in bricks and mortar stores.
Britain’s town centres were suffering even before the crisis, with 143,100 jobs lost in 2019 alone.
In March, the Restaurant Group announced it would close down the majority of its Tex-Mex Chiquito restaurants, while clothes retailer H&M threatened to walk away from 300-plus shop leases if sales did not match pre-coronavirus levels.
The lockdown has also claimed Laura Ashley, which closed 70 branches across the UK in March, and electrical rent-to-own firm Brighthouse.
Retail group Monsoon Accessorize also warned earlier this year it could be sold after the impact of coronavirus cast a shadow over its turnaround plans.
The company, which runs the Monsoon and Accessorize chains, said it has hired advisers to assess options including a potential sale, in a bid to protect the company’s long-term future.
The two retailers, which employ around 3,500 staff, have shut all their stores after the Prime Minister told non-essential retailers to close their doors.
Monsoon Accessorize has drafted in restructuring experts from FRP Advisory to work on possible scenarios.
The rise and fall of Carluccio’s 1999-2020: Founded by ‘Godfather of Italian Cooking but ended amid controversy as short-changed staff complained of ‘shabby’ treatment
Carluccio’s was founded by the ‘Godfather of Italian Cooking’ Antonio Carluccio with its first cafe opening in Market Place in 1999.
At one stage the authentic Italian cafe brand was a thriving chain of stores with 26 dotted around the country.
Fast forward from those heady days of 2006 to today and the company has confirmed that two years of financial troubles have culminated in them calling advisory firm FRP to oversee its administration.
Before these troubled times, when Carluccio first arrived on these shores he was dubbed the Godfather of Italian gastronomy. He died in November last year after falling at his home.
The chef was known for his restaurant chain Carluccio’s and a double act with chef Gennaro Contaldo in the BBC TV show Two Greedy Italians.
Before his death the chef had more work in the pipeline and was planning a trip across Italy’s Amalfi Coast next year, his representative said.
He was also working on a number of books and was in talks to appear on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.
Jamie Oliver, who worked with him at his Neal Street Restaurant in London, gave a heartfelt tribute to his former boss following his death.
The Italian chef was an effervescent character, full of culinary knowledge that was regularly utilised on TV shows – and his off-screen life was just as colourful.
Carluccio, who arrived in Britain in 1975, was married three times. His final relationship was with archaeologist Sabine Stevenson, who was more than 20 years his junior, but they never wed.
He co-founded high street restaurant chain Carluccio’s in 1999 and sold his interest in it in 2005 for £5million but maintained involvement from a distance.
Carluccio, who received an OBE from the Queen for his services to the catering industry, wrote more than a dozen books based on Italian food.
Carluccio’s Ireland operation and its franchise business in the Middle East is unaffected by the administration.
The UK-based Italian food chain confirmed the future of its 71 restaurants and 2,000 jobs was now in jeopardy after it was forced to go into administration
Geoff Rowley, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said in March: ‘We are operating in unprecedented times and the issues currently facing the hospitality sector following the onset of Covid-19 are well documented.
‘In the absence of being able to continue to trade Carluccio’s, in the short term, we are urgently focused on the options available to preserve the future of the business and protect its employees.
‘We welcome the latest update on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and look forward to working with HMRC to access the support it provides for companies in administration and their employees.
‘As this fast-moving situation progresses we will remain in regular communication with all employees and key stakeholders, and will provide a further update in due course.’
The Italian cafe chain was struggling before the coronavirus outbreak, which couldn’t have come at a worse time for the chain, which has been owned by Landmark Group since 2010
Commenting on news of the brand’s fall into administration in March, Unite national officer, Dave Turnbull, said: ‘News of Carluccio’s collapse into administration could not come at a worse time for staff reeling from the coronavirus outbreak.
‘Staff were only last week at their wits’ end after the company announced a grotesque 50 per cent wage cut for March in response to the crisis. Now they’ve lost their jobs.
‘It’s a shabby way to treat loyal staff. No worker should be left to pay the price for a company’s mismanagement and bad boardroom decisions.
‘Like so many of its rivals Carluccio’s expanded too quickly after it was bought by the Dubai-based conglomerate Landmark Group in 2010.
Mark Jones, CEO of Carluccio’s restaurants, pictured at Carluccio’s Garrick Street, London
The announcement led to a range of reactions on social media
This worker criticised Carluccio’s and asked how she would stay afloat following the announcement
‘Carluccio’s directors and administrators must now do the decent thing in these unprecedented times and put the workers first.
‘This collapse reflects very badly on the company’s directors and owner Landmark Group, who have put profit and their get rich quick scheme ahead of their hardworking staff for too long.
‘Unite will be straining every sinew to ensure these workers get the sick pay, holiday pay and any outstanding wages and tips they’re owed, as well as pushing for a decent redundancy package,’ he added.